Tiny houses help address nation's homeless problem

ap/yahoo ^ | february 26, 2014 | carrie antlfinger

[lowbridge]

While tiny houses have been attractive for those wanting to downsize or simplify their lives for financial or environmental reasons, there's another population benefiting from the small-dwelling movement: the homeless.

There's a growing effort across the nation from advocates and religious groups to build these compact buildings because they are cheaper than a traditional large-scale shelter, help the recipients socially because they are built in communal settings and are environmentally friendly due to their size.

"You're out of the elements, you've got your own bed, you've got your own place to call your own," said Harold "Hap" Morgan, who is without a permanent home in Madison. "It gives you a little bit of self-pride: This is my own house."

He's in line for a 99-square-foot house built through the nonprofit Occupy Madison Build, or OM Build, run by former organizers with the Occupy movement. The group hopes to create a cluster of tiny houses like those in Olympia, Wash., and Eugene and Portland, Ore.

Many have been built with donated materials and volunteer labor, sometimes from the people who will live in them. Most require residents to behave appropriately, avoid drugs and alcohol and help maintain the properties.

Still, sometimes neighbors have not been receptive. Linda Brown, who can see the proposed site for Madison's tiny houses from her living room window, said she worries about noise and what her neighbors would be like.

[GraceG]

House built on trailer.....

I thought liberals hated trailer parks....

[yarddog]

99 square feet? That is 10X10. Well they did say tiny didn’t they.

[gorush]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LM8JhvfoqdA

[2ndDivisionVet]

[JRandomFreeper]

My shack where I did the mountain man thing for a couple of years was 8x12. No indoor plumbing, though.

/johnny

[Thank You Rush]

Who said the Occupy Movement were a bunch of kooks? Yep - still are. Let’s see how liberal OR and WA like having these swell dwellings in their neighborhoods...No running water, plumbing, bathrooms, electricity but you can always shower down the street with others of like mind. But who ever said they took showers anyway? They WILL have solar panels tho’. Super!

THEN this will catch on with the liberals nationwide and there will be an EXECUTIVE ACTION to dispose of our own homes and have us all live in one of these! Can hardly wait! Some on the lawns of obozo’s property in Chicago maybe? Great idea. Now that will be true equality!!

[Joshua]

99 square feet? That is 10X10. Well they did say tiny didn’t the

---

That’s smaller than my shed.
Just a little larger than a jail cell.
Get bunk beds and double them up.

[JimSEA]

I first heard “little Boxes” in the 60s sung by Pete Seeger. Living in an old mining camp at the time, I thought the little boxes and new schools sounded pretty good.

[Pollster1]

It's a shame we can't bring back the old Sears kit house from the days before building codes and zoning made small, simple homes (heat, light, and plumbing to be added) but without the frills (air conditioning, dishwasher, etc.) illegal. If poor people could build their own homes, they would appreciate them more, take better care of them, and live someplace they could be proud of, and I know of several poor people who built and lived in cheap kit homes (including VERY close relatives).

http://www.searsarchives.com/homes/1933-1940.htm

[PennsylvaniaMom]

This is a great webpage for a company called a Tumbleweed Homes. Some of the larger ones (800 sq plus) are built on a foundation or slab. Excellent use of space...and most important (to me at least) is REAL steps instead a ladder to reach upper level (or loft).

http://www.tumbleweedhouses.com/

[hal ogen]

Don’t laugh or criticize...if Clown Prince nobama and his commie LIB/DIM pals have their way, you could be pleased to be able to live in one.

[BikerJoe]

That’s smaller than my shed.

Geez, I remember when my brother got a place in Boston. 600 sq. ft. He called it his "condomininum".

[yarddog]

I remember when “Jim Walter Homes” were fairly common in the South where I grew up. They were shell homes. It was intended that you finish them yourself over time but a lot of people just kept them the way they were.

They were really distinctive looking and whenever you saw one it had about the same impact as a single wide trailer. Still I think the idea was good and they eventually began to make some pretty good looking homes.

I have no idea if they are still in business.

[TexasFreeper2009]

why build them houses? just go buy them small campers.

[Michael.SF.]

Like this one maybe?

Tonke Camper (Netherlands)

These things start out at a mere 192,000 euro, but that includes the Mercedes Sprinter to haul it around

[gorush]

Yup, we're of an age...still, they did a good job on this, too.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d9NF2edxy-M

[gorush]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d9NF2edxy-M

[PapaBear3625]

In the cities, they used to have low-income housing called single room occupancy hotels. You got a small room, big enough for a bed, a desk, and a closet. A shared bathroom/shower was down the hall. It was a bit like living in a college dorm.

Then there were even lower-income housing called flophouses.

Unfortunately, modern building codes make these low-income solutions illegal, to an increasing extent. Also, housing regulations make it harder to evict disruptive tenants, making the concept unworkable.

[freedomfiter2]

Campers are maintenance nightmares. These would be a big step up.