The pandemic has only exacerbated the issue by accelerating the relocation plans of city dwellers.
But the real estate market has struggled to keep pace, with low availability of housing and strained supply chains.
As a result, many Americans are forced to live in shared housing, move back in with their parents, or even… move into their workplaces.
One Seattle resident, known on TikTok as @calm.simon, made this controversial choice.
He posted a video of his move on the social network, where he is seen unpacking bags full of clothes, books, food and kitchen equipment onto his desk.
“I’m moving from my apartment into my cubicle at work,” explains the office worker in a TikTok video.
“They do not pay me enough … so as a matter of protest, I am just going to live at my job.”
This innovative move was watched by millions on TikTok, and received more than 1.7 million “Likes.”
Many web users expressed their support for @calm.simon and shared their own experiences with the housing crisis that has plagued the US for several years.
“I had a coworker do this at a job. Everyone knew and no one said a word to him about it. He had a lil grill he used to cook on & everything,” one post under the @calm.situation video reads.
“I did this in 2014. It took three weeks to get fired and evicted. Best of luck,” says another user.
What about affordable housing?
And that’s exactly what happened to TikToker @calm.simon.
He told Fast Company magazine that he slept under his desk for four days, until his superiors got wind of his atypical lifestyle and asked him to leave his makeshift home.
The employee was then faced with a dilemma: delete the videos of him living under his desk from the app and apologise, or face disciplinary action.
He chose to keep them on TikTok since he didn’t see the point of keeping “a job that doesn’t allow [him] to pay the bills.”
According to the American magazine, the TikToker is now living in an Airbnb rental and looking for a new job.
If the case of this Seattle resident may seem extreme, it reflects the great hardship faced by millions of Americans when it comes to housing. Even more so since the beginning of the pandemic.
In fact, 49% of Americans believe that finding affordable housing is a major problem where they live, according to the Pew Research Center. Only 39% thought that at the beginning of 2018.
Finding a place to live can be a daunting task in cities such as Los Angeles, Boston, Washington and New York. The real estate market in the Big Apple is known to be particularly fierce.
Take, for example, the tiny studio apartment in the Greenwich Village neighbourhood, which was dubbed the “worst apartment” in New York on TikTok in February 2021.
The video of this dwelling, posted on the New York City Realtor account, shows a small closet in an equally small room. The (shared) toilet and shower are in the hallway.
The price of this bargain: US$1,650 per month.
Millions of internet users have watched and commented on the video tour of this studio apartment, with reactions of astonishment and resignation. “I could get used to it,” admits one TikTok user.
Hints and tips
Many New Yorkers are now doing the same thing, sharing videos of their tiny apartments in the Big Apple on the social network.
The video from @axelwebber went viral last December. It shows a room of less than 7m2 with a sink, a refrigerator topped with a microwave, a small closet and a bunk bed. “Here’s what it’s like living in the smallest apartment in New York,” the young renter explains in the video. “Whatever your expectations are – lower them.”
And it seems to be an opinion shared by many tenants, as the post has scored more than 7.7 million “Likes.”
While the housing crisis is plunging millions of Americans into great insecurity and hardship, some tenants have become masters at optimizing small spaces.
They show off their skills on TikTok, in videos showing decoration and storage tricks that are popular among users of the social network.
For example, more than 3.4 million people have watched how TikToker @tpayne0 transformed the 29 m2 “shoebox” in which she lives into a stylishly decorated studio apartment.
While most comments under the post praise her good taste, some can’t help but wonder about her living conditions in such a small space.
“Your place is so cute but this should be illegal esp with the price you’re probably paying for it. Our housing crisis is in hell atp,” wrote one user.