Charlie Munger's Dormitory Controversy

[vcdgrips]

Random Thoughts based on having a child attending school in NYC.

1. Guaranteed 4 year university sponsored housing is a huge attraction/retention issue for many schools, particularly in CA, NYC and other urban areas. where the market rate for a sub 100ft studio is 2K+ a month when it is even available.

2. 2 bathrooms for 8 folks is less "dense" than any college we looked at with my kids (15+)

3. Concur that shower and toilet need to lock such that 3 folks can be "using" the bathroom at the same time.

4. While 70SF is a bit small, the rooms are purpose built/designed from a blank sheet of paper and are clearly quite efficient re storage space.

5. My daughter is a Sr in NYC. She had a 94 sf single her first year (dorm/suite), 114 sf her second (single/brownestone), 126 her third (off campus/ 1 of 4 bedrooms) and back to 114(single/brownestone) for her senior year. The dorm, off campus housing and campus brownestone were all chopped up and "redone" at various points in time such that they are not as efficient as this new project.

6. The lounge/study areas in each 8 bedroom "pod" are 500ish sf

7. When you pay, you get to play.

8. I am sure that everybody know that the money had kevlar strings when they took it. I suspect that the architect that that the committee could somehow wear down a 90+ yr old billionaire. They were wrong.

9. As compared to many of the dorms I am directly and vicariously familiar with, this one looks to be quite nice and very full service.

10. Some folks need to tell their story walking...

[Caballoflaco]

It seems that upper-class and influential California boomers bitch about any new housing that isn’t a single family home worth at least a couple million dollars, college dorms included. That’s how you get their current housing market. The reality is when you have areas with population densities similar to large Asian cities you’re going to end up with housing solutions similar to said areas, or end up with a massive population of unhoused and a slowly dying economy as the younger generations can’t afford to migrate to your urban centers to start careers and families.

[TGS]

2. 2 bathrooms for 8 folks is less "dense" than any college we looked at with my kids (15+)

Wow, really?

I mean, we had waaaay more people per bathroom, but it was a big bathroom per floor with multiple showers, shitters, urinals, sinks, etc...something fairly common for college dorms built around that timeframe, so it worked for the entire floor as opposed to private bathrooms which are inefficient.

I also went to a military school, so I'm thinking that my expected person-per-bathroom ratio is likely off since I imagine the average "civilian"-style college kid isn't taking a shower the same time as the rest of his floor mates after morning PT with limited time to shower, hit the chow hall, and get to class.

[jh9]

They will be forced to go outside to seek natural light in the horrible climate and surroundings of Santa Barbara, CA.

Woe.

Exactly. That's a feature not a bug. Dorms aren't long-term, permanent housing. They're a place for students to sleep, fuck and study one semester at a time. You *should* be spending more time Anywhere Else than in your dorm room on any given day.

Sitting on your dead ass staring at the tube is for after you graduate and get a soul sucking desk job, a couple ungrateful kids and a house where something always needs to be fixed.

(Though I kinda feel spoiled here. We had 2 bathrooms for 4 people. Such luxury is wasted on the young.)

[DrkBlue]

Random Thoughts based on having a child attending school in NYC.

8. I am sure that everybody know that the money had kevlar strings when they took it. I suspect that the architect that that the committee could somehow wear down a 90+ yr old billionaire. They were wrong. ..

I am familiar with some of the Berkshire boys from Omaha. My personal experience is they’ve made their money, have their world view and, while they will humor idiots, they are very used to getting their way.

This kind of looking a gift horse in the mouth is exactly gets under their skin. Charlie Munger will win this one.

[Joe in PNG]

I've stayed in worse, including a couple of cruise ship cabins. I would have loved a room to myself, instead of that one guy who always got up at 6am and decided that was the time to vacuum.

[Totem Polar]

They're a place for students to sleep, fuck and study one semester at a time…

That little bed is simply not adequate for late 80s/early90s college menage-a-fucking. Hard no on that cot-sized crib.

[jh9]

That little bed is simply not adequate for late 80s/early90s college menage-a-fucking. Hard no on that cot-sized crib.

They'll manage.

[jetfire]

Looks nicer than floating on a Amphib for six plus months.... just saying...

Right? Having shared a single windowless room with 5 other dudes for months in the middle east, I'm like "oh man, your own room? With a door? And no bunk beds? Oh the luxury of it all"

[HeavyDuty]

Reminds me of a nice railroad YMCA, but entirely adequate for purpose.