The 1990s - when the rent was cheap

[Crawford]

Yeah, I think this narrative has been around forever. It was always supposedly much cheaper in the good old days. Excepting maybe Bay Area, I'm pretty sure you can find cheap housing in any metro. NYC can be super cheap if you're willing to share. There are tons of grannies who will rent a room in their rent stabilized units, citywide, from housing projects to luxury neighborhoods.

I bet you there are even some hacks for Bay Area. Apartment shares in unrenovated units can't be that terrible. Four young people earning professional incomes really can't hack a dumpy old house?

[WhipperSnapper]

Cheap is relative.

A one bedroom apartment in Toronto would have rented for $750 a month and the unit could be purchased for $95,000. That same one bedroom will be now around $2800. It'll be close to $400,000 to buy.

Rental vacancy rate was 0% throughout the 1990s. Every one will a basement was renting it out.

[PhillyRising]

My partner and I rented a newly constructed apartment here in Chester County PA in 92-93 for $650 a month. That's 1360 in today's money.

That current unit goes for about $1600 a month now.

We were dead ass broke back then too...but it didn't matter. The older you get the worse adulting becomes....

[Klippenstein]

Originally Posted by WhipperSnapper

Cheap is relative.

Definitely.

My dad was going to school in Boston at the very end of the 1980s and my parents and my older sister lived in Stoughton and he took the train every day because Boston was too expensive for them. My dad is notoriously cheap. So it's not like they lived out there to afford a luxury home or even a particularly nice home. It was a fine lower unit, but a little dumpy from their recollections. I just asked and they said they paid about $800/month. That would be about $2,050 today.

[jmecklenborg]

Originally Posted by WhipperSnapper

Cheap is relative.

A one bedroom apartment in Toronto would have rented for $750 a month and the unit could be purchased for $95,000. That same one bedroom will be now around $2800. It'll be close to $400,000 to buy.

Rental vacancy rate was 0% throughout the 1990s. Every one will a basement was renting it out.

Please, people, it was cheap as hell to live in 99% of the United States in the 1990s. Stuff was being torn down all over the place because there was too much housing.

I paid $77.50/mo for a room in a 2-bedroom house in Tennessee in the late 90s. I paid $300/mo, all utilities included, as recently as 2012.

[Chef]

In 1995 I was renting a 1000 square foot 1br in St Paul for $350 a month which would be around $700 a month in today's money according to the BLS inflation calculator. It was a sweet Victorian in a rough neighborhood. It is still a rough neighborhood today, it probably rents for around $900 now so it is more expensive but not breaking the bank.

[dimondpark]

I dont know those people but i feel like I do.

[JManc]

My first apartment in west Houston was $450 in 1997. It rents for $930 today.

[Obadno]

the 1990's when we had a functioning society.

[jmecklenborg]

Originally Posted by Obadno

the 1990's when we had a functioning society.

I remember reading an opinion column in the late 90s that began with we're living in a golden age, so why doesn't it feel golden? I wish I had cut that out and saved it, because I can't remember the author.

I am nostalgic for certain aspects of how things used to be, but certainly not all.

Were some things better in the past? Yeah. Are some things better now? Yeah.

I do get annoyed when I see young people get things wrong about things I did or saw firsthand, but it's much more irritating when somebody my age willingly goes along with them for the purpose of boxing out people like me who care about facts.

[iheartthed]

Originally Posted by Obadno

the 1990's when we had a functioning society.

Not sure what 1990s you were living in but that shit was kinda wild. In hindsight the 2010s seemed like the chillest decade of my lifetime so far.

[downtownpdx]

Great photos, I was in college in the mid 90s in Seattle, and what a great time. Unfortunately I never liked most grunge music, haha. But Seattle and Portland were so great with cheap rent, declining crime, no real inflation (like today,) and in Portland at least - traffic was actually limited to rush hour. Sigh...

[jmecklenborg]

I ran across these two photos on an old hard drive. This was a 2-bedroom house that I rented for $155/mo in 2000-01 (yes, $77.50 for each guy). The entirety of the house's climate control was the window unit, which was a combined heater and AC.





That wood bead curtain was there when we moved in. I remember my roommate got a splinter from it once.

[ilcapo]

It was very enjoyable seeing these photos. Reminds me of a 90s sitcom like Friends or similar.

Renting an apartment with friends in a city like New York must've been so exciting during these times, before people were drowned with impressions from social media. You had to actually experience stuff first hand and there was a thirst of seeing things which i feel has died a bit since.

[DZH22]

Originally Posted by Obadno

the 1990's when we had a functioning society.

I believe the early 1990's is when my city had its highest murder rates in its history. You could argue that other aspects of society functioned better, but violent crime was still excessively high during much of this time period.

[Busy Bee]

Originally Posted by downtownpdx

But Seattle and Portland were so great with cheap rent, declining crime, no real inflation (like today,) and in Portland at least - traffic was actually limited to rush hour. Sigh...

I don't reallyy know what this means. There's a reason the average cost of a car today is twice as much as it was in 1993.

[iheartthed]

Originally Posted by DZH22

I believe the early 1990's is when my city had its highest murder rates in its history. You could argue that other aspects of society functioned better, but violent crime was still excessively high during much of this time period.

Almost every major city's murder rate peaked in the early 90s.

[downtownpdx]

Originally Posted by Busy Bee

I don't reallyy know what this means. There's a reason the average cost of a car today is twice as much as it was in 1993.

I just mean on a near term basis, the inflation rate at the time was very low. Gas, food, etc wasn't jumping in price every year the way it has been recently. And decent housing, while never super easy, was definitely more affordable for the average income earner. The homeless problem wasn't nearly as prevalent.

[iheartthed]

Originally Posted by downtownpdx

I just mean on a near term basis, the inflation rate at the time was very low. Gas, food, etc wasn't jumping in price every year the way it has been recently. And decent housing, while never super easy, was definitely more affordable for the average income earner. The homeless problem wasn't nearly as prevalent.

Actually, inflation might have peaked higher in the early 90s than we have hit so far in this period of relatively high inflation. The economic slowdown from 1990 - 1992 cost GHW Bush a second term.

[JManc]

I don't remember inflation being that much of an issue in the early 90's like it is today or people lamenting costs of everyday items up to and including cars and housing.