Okay, Teeming Millions, for the purpose of defending myself in a legal battle, I need to know what percentage of people live with unrelated roommates. (S.O.'s don’t count, in this particular case.)
And also, if you think that living with unrelated roommates is “weird”.
I don’t currently, but did for several years.
I don’t think it’s weird at all.
I haven’t. But all three of my sons have. It’s not weird at all to share the rent. You get a better place that way.
I don’t know how you’d get a workable percentage, even from the boards, but I live with a roommate I’m not related to. I’ve had three roommates in my life so far, all friends from high school, and not relations. I’m in my early 20’s.
I don’t think it’s weird up until a certain age…I’m not sure when that age is, but it’s sometime in your 30’s, to me. YMMV of course.
For the two-point-five years I lived interstate, I lived with a guy I wasn’t related to or having a romantic relationship. Before I moved in with him and we got our own place, he shared a house with five other unrelated people, who were also not in romantic relationships with each other. After I moved out, he moved on with another group of I think it was 3 unrelated people. It’s pretty common, especially in the late teens/early twenties, when people aren’t earning enough to buy a house or rent wholly on their own.
I’ve lived with 4 unrelated, unromantic roommates (not anymore - too old, too weird, etc).
I don’t think it’s odd at all.
We had a couple unrelated roommates over the years. It’s uncommon for people of a certain age to have roommates, but it’s not unheard of. Presumably, a person will gradually earn more money and eventually be able to live on his or her own, but that doesn’t happen all the time. Not weird. Exactly.
I’m 26, and have lived with roommates in apartments since 2000, in seven different apartments.
I lived with unrelated roommates for years. For two years, in fact, I lived with roommates I’d never met before I moved in.
That’s normal. It’s more cost-effective to share a living space with another paying person, whether they are related or not.
IMO Living with unrelated roommates is completly normal and for about 5 years I did. I moved around quite alot and I think my last count for roommates was over 20.
I am so bad, there are some I dont even remember their names (but don’t tell them that 
). Hell three of them didnt even speak the same language as me.
Here is one example that may be a problem for unrelated roommates.
I know that story is about unwed couples, which isn’t exactly the same as a few people living together amicably, but this quote struck me as a similar problem:
Oops, I meant to quote point #4 instead of #3:
In college, of course, it was common. Since then, I haven’t lived with anybody not my wife or wife-to-be.
WTF? What century are we in? I don’t care too much about apartments not allowing unmarried couples to live, providing there are alternatives, but a whole town?
Ah, wait. It says “More than 3 people”. So I suppose it would be OK for me and my SO to live together…but if we have two kids we have to marry or move apart. :rolleyes: One kid is OK, though.
I have heard of this sort of problem. It makes me want to not ever get married. But I see how it could come into a legal problem.
I have lived with an unrelated roommate for 8 of the last 9 years. It’s not weird at all. It’s cost-effective.
Well, it’s a very long and complicated story… suffice to say, the opposition is trying to characterize me as “weird” because I live with two roommates, an older lady and an older man, both of whom I’ve known for 15 years. The way a paralegal I spoke to explained it to me is that it’s just not considered “normal” in the affluent county where this is taking place.
I am in my early 40’s, and I note that a couple people did think it was a bit stranger for people past their 20’s. I didn’t need an exact percentage; I should have said, “proportion”. I just wanted a feel for what is or is not out of the norm for people. Personally, I was kind of thunderstruck that anyone would think it was odd at all…I’m not an affluent person myself, I live in a large city in California, and I know all kinds of people who share places…rents are just ridiculous here!!
BTW, I’m afraid I don’t know how to edit the title of an existing thread. Mod, I would appreciate the assist, thanks.
A lot of times towns will pass those type of ordinances to prevent a bunch of college kids from renting houses together - fearing loud, all night parties, I guess.
Right before I got married I shared a house with 5 other people - two couples and two singles in a four bedroom house. It worked out great - one of the couples wanted to buy the house but couldn’t afford it on their own at the time, and the rest of us were tired of apartment living.
As a student? Completely natural. Everybody does it, to make ends meet. I certainly did it.
And what do you think a Uni dormitory is, anyway? Why is it different if two or more people share digs off campus!?
Not to mention that, at least in Israel, it’s perfectly common to have mixed-gender groups of students (non-romantic, at least at the outset… 
… and more often than not at the end, as well) sharing an apartment.
Dunno about living with roomies in your 40-s; I’d consider it unusual but not weird. But I’ve seen it happen, specifically in cases like yours where several single and less-than-affluent people need to cut costs.
So I vote for perfectly OK and normal.
does this mean Jerry Seinfeld & co. are in some kind of trouble? 
Well that makes a little more sense as to why they think it’s weird. And by “weird” I just mean “different”… personally I couldn’t care less, but you have to admit that a 40-year-old having roommates is a little less common than a college student. So I don’t think it’s the fact that you’re rooming with non-relatives that they’re finding strange, just the fact that you have roommates at all. What you choose to do with that information is up to you… me, I’d say to hell with 'em.
Um, what? Jerry Seinfeld didn’t have roommates. Are you talking about Friends or something?