In a similar vein I'm working on an idea to monetize cemetery plots and crypts in and around San Francisco. They're quiet workplaces with scenic views (lots of flowers and greenery), often centrally located and many are close to coffee shops. With a little cabling/wiring and some temporary structures they would make ideal workplaces.
Has anybody tried to create something like AirBnB for co-working/office spaces? There must be people willing to rent out a spare bedroom they never use, etc. All you really need to provide is a desk and internet.
$2.25/hr for 8 hours is $18. I don't know about the SF prices but in Manhattan you can get a "hot desk" for $30/day at some fairly nice places. I'd guess in Brooklyn you can probably find/negotiate something comparable to $18/hr.
This is a fantastic demonstration of how poorly we manage our streets. There is no doubt in my mind that in the future we will look back at how we currently treat parking and wonder "What took so long?"
I wonder if anyone has ever calculated the amount of actual acreage taken up by street parking in San Francisco. Undoubtedly it's a huge amount that you would consider extremely valuable in a place like San Francisco. Yet we're letting people dump their single passenger vehicles in public and it's no big deal.
That is the actual plot of the SheWork episode in Broad City.
That makes me wonder what else you could repurpose as an office in places where offices are disproportionally expensive. What about a climate-controlled storage unit? A quick Googling tells me you can get a small (but large enough for a desk) climate controlled storage unit in San Fran for about $100-150/month. That's vastly cheaper than a co-working space. I know you can get storage units with power, they're pretty popular as practice spaces for bands around where I live. You'd need a mobile hotspot for internet, and no windows might be a bit depressing, but for the price...
Was the reporter too credulous or were they in on the joke?
They should invest in getting those large collapsable umbrellas for shade, working in 'on-road parking' during summer doesn't sound practical.
the website: https://www.wepark.us
the original twitter thread (first test drive): https://twitter.com/VictorPontis/status/1121521771633500160
Good on them for bringing attention to how much space is wasted for parking in cities! A clever way to raise awareness.
The group Improv Everywhere did a similar thing, playing it more for laughs: https://improveverywhere.com/2018/11/13/phone-booth-coworkin...
Twenty people working in a space about the size of a parking spot? I call bullshit.
I've seen someone being literally bumped out of a parking spot by a car, because the driver wanted to park there.
I hope they have the added cost of theft, vandalism, and medical. That looks really risky.
This is getting ridiculous.
What a time we live in...
Welcome to Silicon Valley: where everyone has somehow bamboozled themselves into believing that working in a cramped parking space is more valuable than buying office real estate in LITERALLY any other state...
Remember kids: you don’t HAVE to live in California.