Once upon a time, it was possible to colonize an area with just a small camper pulled behind a medium-duty vehicle, large sedan or pickup truck, where there was some sort of hook-up for utilities and community amenities present. Whole temporary cities could be set up this way, virtually overnight, until more permanent facilities could be built out. The small camper itself became a valuable asset, in that it could be sold to the next prospective colonizer, who arrived with little more than the clothes on his back, basic tools, and a small stake, much like prospectors in the early days of mining strikes.
It is uncomfortable and a lot like a frontier town, but that was how America was once able to expand and grow.
Aren’t there a bunch of FEMA trailers sitting somewhere in a huge lot? Seems like they never can get them in place for any kind of natural disaster, how about utilizing them for a “bootstrap” boost to the economy? Put an unused asset to work, for a basic clearance price, and let the people mobilize, like the huge dispersal of former military goods after WW II, where so much military surplus went to create the new postwar industrial base.
IIRC the FedGov decided the pressboard inside was emitting too much of formaldehyde.
They never heard of opening the windows, apparently.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/23168160/ns/us_news-life/t/cdc-tests-confirm-fema-trailers-are-toxic/#.T-jJJ_X7Txg
Trying to keep a trailer built for the Gulf Coast to not Freeze the Pipes during a North Dakota winter would be a tough job.
The FEMA trailer I bought has uninsulated tanks and piping hanging exposed beneath the trailer.