Return of the "Flophouse"

"Unquestionably, tens of millions of oncoming youth will disconnect from the American vision of home as a "homestead" - the self-contained units of our pioneer forbears, translated since World War II by a suburban home occupying its own staked out lot," writes Peirce.

Peirce talks with urban designers and developers who are implementing this idea now:

"In Seattle, developer Jim Potter has put up several buildings specifically for people in their 20s, assuming their basic need is a safe place to sleep that has a private bath. The units are a few hundred square feet in size, rents (WiFi included) just $500 a month. There's a very compact kitchen in each unit, but in ancient rooming house tradition, larger shared kitchen as well."