More families share quarters as cost of housing soars

http://www.boston.com/news/local/articles/2003/11/17/more_families_share_quarters_as_cost_of_housing_soars/

Just three years ago, Najwa and Faisal Beydown were living comfortably in a sprawling, four-bedroom, Spanish-style ranch in St. Petersburg, Fla., with two spacious living rooms, a huge family room, and a veranda overlooking a lush garden.

But after two family businesses failed, the West African-born couple lost the house to foreclosure and moved in with their daughter, son-in-law, and two grandchildren in Jamaica Plain.

The Beydowns' story is not unique. The number of multiple families residing in a single housing unit -- common in many developing countries -- has nearly doubled in Massachusetts in the past 20 years, and is reflective of a national trend.

The Beydowns thought the living arrangements would be a temporary reprieve until they found jobs and got settled. Faisal is now employed, but the six of them are still squeezed into a small, two-bedroom apartment with one bath on a gritty part of Centre Street overlooking the Stop & Shop parking lot.