{"id":52211,"date":"2025-07-09T19:54:11","date_gmt":"2025-07-09T19:54:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/52211\/"},"modified":"2025-07-09T19:54:11","modified_gmt":"2025-07-09T19:54:11","slug":"looking-for-a-roommate-this-speed-dating-event-could-help","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/52211\/","title":{"rendered":"Looking for a roommate?\u00a0This speed “dating” event could help"},"content":{"rendered":"

A roommate can bring on the best of times. Or the worst of times.<\/p>\n

She can be the person you pile onto the couch with and binge every season of \u201cGrey\u2019s Anatomy.\u201d Or the person who steals your Anthropologie gift card and lets her sick cat into your room so it can pee on your beloved vintage grey coat. Hypothetically speaking.<\/p>\n

Given San Diego\u2019s high rents, sharing a home with a roommate or housemate may be the only way to afford housing here.<\/p>\n

To help renters find a perfect match, SpareRoom, a roommate finding website, is hosting a free \u201cspeed roommating\u201d event Thursday from 7:30 to 9:30 p.m. in downtown\u2019s Stout Public House, at 1125 6th Ave.<\/p>\n

The format is simple and fun: Put on a sticker, provided by SpareRoom, that says \u201cI need a roommate\u201d or \u201cI need a room\u201d and mingle.<\/p>\n

The events are meant to \u201csupplement\u201d SpareRoom\u2019s<\/a> online platform, said its founder and CEO, Rupert Hunt.<\/p>\n

\u201cObviously, you can\u2019t beat the amount of choice you have on SpareRoom, but the events are more immediate \u2014 meeting lots of potential roommates in the time it would take to meet just one the traditional way,\u201d Hunt told the U-T on Wednesday. \u201cWe encourage people to use both \u2014 and I always have done (both) when finding a roommate in London or NY. I\u2019ve lived with 15 roommates over the past 10 or so years, and 3 have come from the events and most of the others have come from SpareRoom.\u201d<\/p>\n

Most attendees leave with one or more potential matches to follow up with, he added.<\/p>\n

In a market where room seekers far outnumber rooms, anything helps.<\/p>\n

Across San Diego, there were 516 rooms for rent posted Wednesday and 812 people looking for rooms. The difference is even greater in the 92104 ZIP code, which mostly includes North Park. There, SpareRoom had 17 rooms for rent<\/a> and 468 people looking for roommates.<\/p>\n

Rents rose 4.1% year over year countywide and almost 10% in San Diego, according to the Southern California Rental Housing Association. In parallel, vacancy in the region fell from last year.<\/p>\n

\u201cAccording to SpareRoom data, San Diego has seen a steady increase in renters seeking shared spaces,\u201d SpareRoom\u2019s news release said. \u201cAnd, at around $1,301 for a room in an apartment share, these are significantly more affordable as well as more social.\u202f The average annual cost savings to share an apartment vs. a one-bedroom apartment is $12,600.\u201d<\/p>\n

How to stand out in a crowded landscape?<\/p>\n

Hunt, himself a seasoned roommate, gave this advice:<\/p>\n

\u201cWe encourage attendees to express themselves with personality stickers that they relate to, e.g. \u2018plant parent\u2019, \u2018gym rat\u2019, \u2018dancing queen,\u2019 which are good for ice breakers. Although there are some useful practical questions to ask that are often sources of tension e.g. around their work schedule, levels of tidiness, appetite for partying etc, really the focus is on seeing if you connect with someone because having good rapport is the best indicator of whether you\u2019re going to get along as roommates.\u201d<\/p>\n

Here are some more diagnostic questions you could ask at the event from this reporter, who has had more roommates, flatmates and housemates than fingers (and who now lives with one adult and two young housemates).<\/p>\n