I've been at the hacker home for a long time...almost 3 months and plan to stay for longer when I get back in town. I was very reluctant at first about a shared space but the other people there are wonderful and that's the real reason I stay. I'm a travel nurse and it's hard to find people to connect with on a level deeper than just work, and that's exactly what I have here. There's multiple cultures and ideas in that house, people are always planing things to do as a group, it's just an all-around great experience. Sure there are some caveats to communal living- spaces get smaller, multiple people to a room, bathrooms, etc...but having awesome people to talk to (and being so close to work and waking up the earliest so I get the bathroom) makes me not miss that privacy so much. It's like my little California family :)