Strangely, my aunt and uncle’s room is in their (finished) basement. It was originally the family room, but then they added an addition onto the house, and then moved THEIR room downstairs. And then their sons could each have their own rooms, rather than sharing one.
When my older brother moved back home, my sister had already moved into his bigger former bedroom, and Mom had turned sister’s old bedroom into a sewing room (i.e., junk room).
Just having a crawlspace under the house, he instead opted to live in my parents’ camping trailer in the driveway, running an extension cord out to it to power his stereo. It was great fun for my friends and I to prank my brother and his friends by unplugging his house while they were listening to music. :D:D
Basements are pretty common in metro Atlanta, as are young adults living in them.
I have rented two different “mother in law” apartments–finished basements–since I’ve been in seattle. I know one of them was specifically finished as an apartment for the previous owner’s son.
I think the meme is because a basement apartment is something of a compromise: it can indeed exist as a separate living space, unlike just living in your old room with the Star Wars wallpaper, but it’s still (depending on the parents of course) available rent free. It’s partial independence.
“adult living with his/her parents” is kind of a mouthful, also there are other situations where it might be helpful to mention someones offspring are adults and ‘adult child’ seems to work nicely.
Edit - And I apologize for continuing the hijack.
To make this post useful I will add, as others have said, here in the northeast basements range from an unfinished hole under the house to a completely separate apartment with it’s own kitchen/bathroom. Sometimes the completely separate apartment is known as an ‘in-law’ apartment. Usually an ‘in-law apartment’ is separate from the rest of the house with its own kitchen and bathroom but not quite separate enough that you would feel comfortable renting it out to a stranger - or it may not be legally up to code to rent out.
Not as unnecessary as hijacking a thread to complain about it.
Mine do! Actually one of them (the oldest) is only there temporarily since he is in the Air Force now, but he has lived in the basement since he was 18. It was his choice when we moved into this townhouse, and it is a completely finished, carpeted basement (divided into two rooms and a laundry room) with full amenities. He chose it because it is essentially an extra large bedroom and away from the rest of the bedrooms that are on the third floor so it affords much greater privacy. As soon as he is out for good the current 18 year old intends to move down there until he moves out completely.
Since our basement has access to outside, a second room (but large…pretty sure it was intended for storage) that is considered a rec room to us, but is set up with a sofa, loveseat, dining table and chairs, televisions, video game systems and stereo system it is essentially like a small apartment down there for them and makes a good transition “residence” IMO.
My basement renters just moved out Dec. 31. I have a house with a fully finished basement, and enough room upstairs (3 bedrooms, living room, full bath, kitchen) that we didn’t mind giving up the basement. My brother and a friend of his rented it for two years. I think it was a really good transition - they paid rent, although it was less than they would have paid for an apartment, and they had a lot of independence, but also a lot of support. They had a pretty good setup down there: they each had a bedroom (although one was tiny), plus the downstairs living room, a half bath, and an open area for their beer pong table:D. The washer and dryer are in the basement, and they had a mini-fridge each, plus a toaster oven and a microwave, so they basically only had to come upstairs to shower.
My friend’s adult children moved out of her basement and she now has an adult non-relative living there.
Most of the houses around here have finished basements with a family room, full bath and at least on bedroom. The basement bedrooms are usually larger than the ones on the main level so often the oldest kid gets to live down there.
My oldest son moved out of the basement bedroom but we’re not letting the younger one move down there because we don’t want him becoming a basement troll like his brother was.
Sure, I’d imagine it’s pretty common, after all, it turns a 3 bedroom house into a 4 or more bedroom house. And if you’re going to live with your parents, living in the basement gives you a bit more privacy and often a separate entrance where you can come and go in the middle of the night without disturbing those upstairs.
I lived in a finished room in an unfinished basement for several years after age 10 or so. It was fine except when it flooded, the ground was sloped incorrectly and water ran downhill into the window wells.
I had a friend/girlfriend that was living in her parent’s nicely finished basement for years.
Right now, I’m at my mom’s. I got divorced, and wasn’t living in the house I was paying for for a while. It was an economically wise decision, and, since I get along with my mom, it seemed like it’d work out pretty well.
And it does. Sorta. My mom and I get along pretty well, and socialize together, so in that sense, it’s like having a roommate. I pay rent to her. And she seems to like having me there. She’s been taking care of my grandma, and having someone else there is a help. At least that’s what she says.
That being said, I’m saving up to get out and away. I’m not going to move to an apartment locally just to move, but I kind of want out of the area.
. . .and I live in the basement. Of course, the basement is finished, so it’s virtually indistinguishable from the rest of the house. In my case, it just made the most sense; the house went from being a place with four people in it to having just two (I went to college/got married, my sister went to college, and my parents got divorced before my grandma moved in), and so the basement just plain wasn’t being used (well–the office and the laundry room were; the family room and bedroom and bathroom weren’t). It works; it’s out of the way, and gives me some facimile of a real, adult life. The family room has a gas fireplace, too, which is nice. It gets a little cold without it, but I like it cold when I sleep.
That being said, I’ve known people who’ve lived in unfinished basements; I’m pretty sure I couldn’t do that. Even short term.
If you’re asking if the cliche is true, why stop there.
I was wondering if the basement dwellers also wear sweatpants, live off Cheez-Doodle type food and spend their days pretending to be women on the Internet (or arguing about Klingons and Japanimation).
My grandfather has taken this cliché and turned it on it’s head, though. He’s living in his daughter’s basement!
He had arranged his retirement to get larger payouts per year until he turned 90, figuring he’d be dead by then anyways and therefore able to live a more comfortable life. When he actually hit 90, the money started to run out (though he’s done very well managing what’s left), and he had to give up his apartment. As it happens, his daughter lived nearby and had an empty basement apartment that she usually rented to university students, so he moved in. He’s creeping up on 95 now, and still healthy as ever, although mostly deaf, despite the gourmet cooking, pack-or-two-a-day smoking, and drinking. Sadly for me, he’s my grandmother’s second husband, and I can’t hope to benefit from his genetic longevity!
I’m 26 and still live at home. I lived here throughout college and am currently in a 2 year internship that will end this summer. I’m already permanent, so I know the job won’t end, but I plan to quit and enroll in a pretty aggressive 2-year Master’s program, so I’ll have to stay here at least two more years. I eventually plan to buy land and build a nice shop with an upstairs apartment for a guest house. Should my parents ever need a place to stay, they are welcome. We’ve never even had an argument about living space.
I lived in my mom’s basement for 6 months, between when I finished college and when I got my own apartment. I would also stay down there during school vacations and in the summer. This was because the upstairs bedroom was being rented out to a friend of my mom’s. Actually, it was preferable for me, because at the time I was still a hardcore night owl, and I could watch movies/play games/bring over girls at high volume without disturbing the rest of the house. It was also A LOT more spacious than my former bedroom upstairs. The only drawback was there wasn’t a bathroom down there.
Adulthood in our culture assumes much more than just being of legal age. You have to be financially self-supporting; maintain and pay for your own living space, food and clothing; and be part of a social network that conforms generally to the two-income, two-kid, two-car, tract-home crowd. Even being single after a certain age, or having serious out-of-work pursuits, is automatically suspect.
You see, that crowd feels threatened and anxious because they no longer dominate the culture as they once did. They respond by continuing to pretend they’re the Real Americans, and creating scapegoats to feel superior to. To the degree you don’t match up with their lifestyle, you are a target.
As the edit window slams down on my typing fingers, I add:
Part of the privilege these Real Americans, this aristocracy of mediocrity, grant themselves is that of Real Adulthood and Real Responsibility. If you don’t do adulthood and responsibility their way, you’re neither responsible nor an adult; you’re living somewhere between self-delusion and sin.
At the moment, I’m in a basement apartment in Kansas City that I rent from my brother. But in my defense, I also have a 3 bedroom apartment in Chicago with my wife. The ball took some weird bounces and I have more clients here then there, so I designed and built a really lovely apartment here with a full kitchen and bath with a luxuries like a full-size stacking washer and dryer and a bath with a heated tile floor.
Yes. My half-brother lived in the basement for years.