California's Ridiculous Real Estate: Bed-Sized Pod Rental

We often hear about the high cost of buying a home in California, but rents are just as bad. In San Francisco the average rent for a one bedroom apartment climbed to $3,590 in February, according to Zumper, up 2.6 percent from the previous month. That’s the highest in the nation. Oakland and San Jose were in a three-way tie for third place with Boston, at $2290. LA came in seventh at $1,900.

Many people have bailed out of the Golden State altogether. But one man who’s stayed here has found a unique solution to the high rent quandary--he built a pod not much larger than the size of a bed. In a friend’s living room. Monthly rent for his bite-sized chunk of San Francisco: $400.

Peter Berkowitz wrote about his unique living arrangement on March 23. While noting that living in a pod is “silly,” he calls the bed cozy “with a fold-down desk, a slanted + cushioned backboard, and uniformly ideal light for reading.”

He told Patch that he’s been talking with people about building pods, but he wants “to take it very slow. Trying to learn something new from each pod we build."

Berkowitz struck a nerve with his pod, telling Patch "People have been getting in touch with me from all over the world...It definitely blew up."

A freelance illustrator by trade, Berkowitz can afford higher rent, but just doesn’t want to blow that kind of money every month. And he says that his quality of life, in the pod, has not suffered.

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--Photos used by permission/courtesy Peter Berkowitz