The Perfect Roommate In New York Vs. L.A.

Millennial city-dwellers from coast to coast seemed to have unquestioningly accepted their fate of cohabiting with strangers until they win the lottery or save up for 20 years in order to get a place of their own. Roommates are just a fact of life - but that doesn't mean we aren't picky about them.

SpareRoom, a website which makes finding the perfect roommate a cinch, surveyed 6000+ roommates and roommate-seekers in the U.S. to find out the make-it-or-break-it qualities potential apartment-sharers are looking for.

Unsurprisingly, 99% of respondents want to live with someone who's respectful, responsible, honest and clean/neat, but things get pretty interesting when we compare our favorite East Coast/West Coast rival cities, New York and Los Angeles.

When compared to L.A. residents, New Yorkers care more about their roommates being neat, not smoking, and preferring to order in. Angelenos, on the other hand, seem to want to interact with their housemates (...for some reason), placing more value on qualities like friendliness, sociability, and a love for animals. They also care more about their roommates sharing similar interests than their New York counterparts. Makes sense, since we've never met a New Yorker who planned on becoming friends with the person who splits their rent. It may not help our case against the cold and unfeeling New York stereotype, but at least we're not trying to go hiking with the weird dude we share a bathroom with.

[Photo via Unsplash/Graph courtesy SpareRoom]