A startup is turning old hotels into dorm-like housing for San Francisco's forgotten middle class - here's what it's like inside

Starcity

A community dinner at Starcity's Mission location.

The booming tech industry has caused an ongoing housing crisis in San Francisco, and longtime middle-income residents have been forced out by sky-high housing costs.

A startup called Starcity is on a mission to alleviate the situation. Founded in 2016, the 18-person team is creating communal housing for middle-income people who don't qualify for government subsidies, but still can't afford San Francisco's sky-high prices.

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Starcity buys up defunct hotels, retail buildings, and parking garages, and turns them into dorm-like living spaces for the city's restaurant workers, teachers, and artists. According to founder Jon Dishotsky, fewer then 20% of residents work in tech.

Right now, Starcity runs two San Francisco locations - one in the Mission district and one in Soma. There's an 1800 person waiting list for the two open locations, and nine more locations are in the works. We visited the Mission location to see what it's like.