Anything that can be pitched as a startup acquires an undeserved sheen. It’s not a water bottle; it’s a hydration system. This isn’t an overpriced group home from hell; it’s a Brooklyn co-living space.

A curated living space in a Brooklyn neighborhood with a strong community vibe, rich cultural experiences, open green spaces, exceptional dining, and the potential to incubate a strong, tight-knit community of members? Sounds amazing! What a fresh and appealing way to “rethink housing from the ground up, answering the question of what residential living would look like if it were designed from scratch today.”

The fine print: you will pay between $1,800-$1,950 per month for a single bedroom in a four story house in Crown Heights with 18 roommates. On each floor, four or five people will share a living room, two bathrooms, and a kitchen—all for the price of renting an entire one bedroom apartment for yourself in the same neighborhood! Quite a deal! Of course, if you took the traditional, outmoded route of just renting your own apartment, you would miss out not only on the chance to meet 18 new people who you would soon grow to hate, but also the chance to be a part of this Common Living startup’s plan to “build bridges into and relationships with the existing community that lives, works, and plays in Crown Heights.”

Maybe they could give one of their many bedrooms to a resident of the enormous homeless shelter directly across the street from their house.

More than 300 people applied to live in this place. What will become of our once-great nation?

[Photo of authentic curated couch via]