Table for One

NYU Alumni Magazine, Dec 6 — While reclining in an armchair in his office at NYU, sociology professor Eric Klinenberg flashes a warm smile and casually asks me where I live (a studio in the West Village), how I feel about living alone (I love it), why I decided not to get roommates (why put up with anyone but Mr. Perfect?),

The Attraction of Solitude

The Economist, Aug 29 — Living alone is on the rise all over the world. Is this bad news?

The Excesses of Individualism

Charlotte Bruce Harvey

Brown Alumni Magazine, Mar 14 — In his new book, Going Solo, sociologist Eric Klinenberg ’93 documents the growing trend for people to live alone, at least temporarily. Here he discusses why people are choosing solitude and why we should, and should not, be concerned.

Two’s a Crowd

Charlotte Bruce Harvey

Brown Alumni Magazine, Mar 14 — If Eric Klinenberg ’93 is correct, a momentous cultural change is going on largely unnoticed: in record numbers, people are choosing to live alone.

The Benefits of Living Alone, As Told by the Upright Citizens Brigade

Madeleine Davies

Upright Citizens Brigade, Mar 8 — Let's face it. We are all a big bunch of freaks trying to keep our foibles in check while in the company of others. That's what's so great about living alone — you can be a weirdo> and thaw your chicken in the shower.

Homeward Bound: The Rise of Multigenerational and One-Person Households

Garret Keizer

The New York Times, Mar 2 — So these two sociologists go into a bar and the man says to the woman, “What have you been up to?” “I’ve been studying what I call ‘accordion families,’” she says. “Right now something like three and a half million American parents are sharing a house with adult kids who’ve either come back home or never left.”

Going Solo: The Extraordinary Rise And Surprising Appeal of Living Alone

Microsoft Research Video, Mar 1 — In Going Solo, sociologist Eric Klinenberg presents a revelatory examination of the most significant demographic shift since the baby boom: the sharp increase in the number of people who live alone. With eye-opening statistics, original data, and vivid portraits of people who go solo, Klinenberg upends the conventional wisdom to deliver the definitive take on how the rise of living alone is transforming the American experience.

The High Price of Living Alone

Kimberly Palmer

US News & World Report, Mar 1 — In his new book, Going Solo: The Extraordinary Rise and Surprising Appeal of Living Alone, sociologist Eric Klinenberg documents the incredible boom in people living on their own, and explores why so many people are willing to pay a premium to have a home all to themselves. “It has a real value to people and they’re willing to find a way to afford it,” says Klinenberg. Today, about 31 million Americans live on their own.

The Myth of the Lonely American

Dave Gilson

Mother Jones, Feb 23 — We Americans like to imagine ourselves as rugged individualists, but we haven't truly struck out on our own until the past couple of decades. More than half of all adults—100 million or so—are currently single; about one in seven, or around 31 million, are living alone. In Manhattan and Washington, D.C., single people make up half of all households. Nationwide, single people now outnumber nuclear families.

One is the Quirkiest Number

Steven Kurutz

The New York Times, Feb 22 — If there is any doubt that we’re living in the age of the individual, a look at the housing data confirms it. For millenniums, people have huddled together, in caves, in mud huts, in split-levels and Cape Cods. But these days, 1 in every 4 American households is occupied by someone living alone; in Manhattan, mythic land of the singleton, the number is nearly 1 in 2.