This Woman Is Living in a Bomb Shelter for an Entire Year
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We've all heard the stories of rent and housing prices soaring so sky-high that people are having to find alternatives to traditional housing to keep costs down, like co-ownership with your friends or purchasing a foldable tiny house from Amazon. But one woman on TikTok is taking her qualms with West Coast landlords to a whole other level—literally. A woman whose username on the video app is @undergroundgirl1 is moving—you guessed it—underground and recently signed a one-year lease to live in a bomb shelter. And we, as well as so many others, just have one question: Why?
She surprisingly wasn't inspired by Amazon Prime's new TV adaptation of the video game series Fallout when agreeing to live in the bunker for a year. The TikToker explains in her post that she recently moved from the East Coast to the West Coast and that rent prices were a bit higher than she expected, so she's staying in the bomb shelter that sits on one of her friend's property to save some money while catching her footing.
The TikToker doesn't mention in the video how much she's paying to live in a doomsday prepper's paradise, but assuming that this bunker is a lot less expensive than living in a studio or one-bedroom apartment, we're betting she's getting a lot of bang for her buck. Once you get past the literal chunk of concrete that slowly lifts from the ground in order to get into the front door (if you can call it that) of the bunker with its scary-looking knob and keypad, the shelter really doesn't look that bad. It's actually quite large—in her original mini tour of the place, we can spot two living areas, two kitchenettes, a primary bedroom, at least 18 bunk beds, two toilets, and a whole lot of storage space. In another video on her page though, she explains that there's an ensuite bathroom off her bedroom that has yet another toilet (bringing our total tally up to three) and a shower. However, she clarifies that there are two showers in the whole shelter.
Some of the comments on her first video completely understand why she would move into a cheaper housing alternative, even if it is a bomb shelter. "It’s so much bigger than I was expecting! I think I could live there," one person wrote on her video. Another commenter had a supportive, albeit cynical, take on the move: "You picked the right year to do it."
But there are an overwhelming number of less positive comments bringing up potential problems with this eerie living situation. Besides calling out the overwhelming feeling of claustrophobia, commenters are bringing up other important matters: "That’s going to suck when you really need to pee and you have to wait for the door to open," one wrote. Another asked, "Does your lease have a clause that the family can invade your living space during an emergency?" The TikToker replied that yes, it does.
People seem more genuinely curious than cruel about her choice of living situation, but personally, we don't think any of us could do it at House Beautiful. However, if she needs design inspiration, we have plenty of ideas for small spaces!
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