Living Independant vs. Communal Living

When traveling to the Philippines last August, it really struck me how independant we are as a Americans. Mimi's 3 sisters and brother all live together in the same home. I couldn't even begin to image how difficult it would be if they all lived in their own separate households. Working and living together makes a lot of sense. Just think how well off families in American would be if they adopted a similiar lifestyle. Most rents have skyrocketed to 800-1500 per month. Let's pretend that we took Mimi's now lives in the US. The same size house here would cost them roughly $1200/month. If they all contributed to the rent they would end up paying $240 each. It's unreal as americans that we can afford to live on our own. Gas price are almost $4 a gallon, the dollar dropping in value, and house prices are way overvalued in my opinion. Living the communal lifestyle makes a lot of sense. Think of what families could achieve as a team. That $250,000 would be easy to afford.