Tribal Culture
Single but not alone, these urbanites are redefining the `adultescent' years
The end? So what happens when tribe members, well, grow up? Konstantin Guericke, cofounder of LinkedIn, sees his tribe much less now that he's married and has a small child. But for others, the party never ends. Susan Mittmann, 33, first met her tribe as a single student at the California Institute of Technology. She later married a member of the group and now has two daughters. Because Mittmann often takes the organizer role, tribe activities shifted to her house.
Today, two other tribe families and a tribe singleton have bought houses on Mittmann's street in Palo Alto; members have lent one another money to make the purchases possible. The core group now includes three families, an unmarried couple, and two singles. "If you ask my 4-year-old to list her friends, her list is about half other 4-year-olds and half grown-ups," says Mittmann. "It's like having an extended family that lives close together--the best of both worlds."
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