In this blog post, Matthew Yglesias discusses another portion of the housing market that doesn’t get enough attention: boarding houses and single-room occupancy (SRO) hotels. These provide a step up from being homeless, but are cheaper than a full sized apartment. It’s not luxury, but it provides some level of privacy and stability that you wouldn’t find on the streets or in a shelter.

I remember talking to one woman about the experience of getting some of her possessions stolen while in a shelter. While replacing the stolen items would be mostly an annoyance for most people on this sub, for her it was a catastrophe. I keep thinking that she wouldn’t have been in that situation if she had had her own space. It also just gives a person a sense of dignity to have a spot to call their own that isn’t just a shelter for the night.