Loneliness – An Epidemic
Glass boxes in the sky - an expression familiar to many of us living in urban areas. We are living in smaller and smaller spaces and are physically closer and closer together. Paradoxically, this densification has had the opposite effect when it comes to our sense of community and belonging. Indeed, even pre-pandemic we were facing a loneliness epidemic that drew very limited attention (further reading: Millennials And The Loneliness Epidemic ; The Key To Solving Our Loneliness Epidemic Is A New Social Compact ; Young People Hit Hardest By Loneliness And Depression During Covid-19 ; Is There Hope For Our Loneliness Post Covid-19?).
Today, we are in the midst of a crisis with critical mental and physical health implications (Relationship Between Loneliness, Psychiatric Disorders, and Physical Health? A Review on the Psychological Aspects of Loneliness).
According to a recent Harvard study, more than one in three Americans experienced serious loneliness during the pandemic, including 61% of young adults. A shocking 30% of Americans living in cities have never interacted with their neighbors (Why Won't You Be My Neighbor? ; Americans don’t know their neighbors anymore—and that’s bad for the future of democracy.) Richard Weissbourd, the lead author of the report, sounded the alarm - “These levels of loneliness are heartbreaking. We have big holes in our social fabric.”
In part, these holes have been filled online with what we have dubbed verticalized networks, groups like Reddit or Discord for example. Metaverse communities are beginning to emerge as well. These online communities can help, but what about the physical world? What about the people we see in the elevator? The people from whom we hold the door? With all the talk around and investment in improving the built environment and digital twins and the latest building amenities, we believe we have lost track of something very basic: community. It’s an area of massive underinvestment which is surprising given that a lack of community leads to increased move-outs and every move-out costs money! For every 7 friends a resident has in their building, they will be 54% more likely to renew their lease. Assuming a 100 unit building with rents at $1,500/unit, we estimate that turnovers – inclusive of lease-up commissions, promotions, vacancies, required maintenance – cost a landlord between $300K and $425K per year. These figures are staggering. For real estate owners, we believe investing in community is one of the best ROIs available.
Enter OneRoof. OneRoof is a free, downloadable app that has positioned itself as the messaging forum for multi-family buildings. It aims to be the fundamental building block for creating and expanding the concept of community within the tenant base. Kind of like a hyper-local NextDoor (NYSE: KIND). Early results speak for themselves: 20,000+ MAUs in 800+ buildings that communicate with each other for pet parenting to rent increases, for dinner parties to bartering. While initially setting down roots in NYC, the team is now focused on launching amongst the bustling tech scene in Miami, increasing monthly active users at a rate of 20% month-over-month and earning stellar eight-week retention rates between 40% and 55% (above the industry gold standard of 35%). At these numbers, it’s clear that OneRoof is providing the right service to the people that want and need it.
We believe that humans intrinsically crave community, and lead healthier, more fulfilled lives once we have it (The Importance of Community). Let’s hope we can collectively avoid finding ourselves in Black Mirror’s 15 Million Merits… (for a quick primer - 15 Million Merits: A Culture Industry Critique).
From your friends at GroundBreak Ventures