Rent pricing is what the people should target first. Hard to fight the nutjobs when rent is so expensive
this post was submitted on 20 Mar 2025
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Simply approving more housing helps too https://worksinprogress.co/issue/the-housing-theory-of-everything/
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When I lived in germany full time, I would've loved to live in a tiny home, but germany would've rather put me on the street than allow a tiny home lmaoo.
That's the problem in a lot of the US too. We transitioned from building massive subdivisions of small/cheap homes to smalle subdivisions of larger/more expensive housing. This is due to a mix of zoning that favors single family detached housing, land availability, and consumer tastes.
Homes have drastically grown in size over the past 200 years while the number of people living in them has decreased. Not to mention nicer material, which also contributes to cost. No more "builder grade" cabinets and formica counters these days.
These units may be basically sheds, but I've seen people pay half a million to have the same thing three floors up in central London.
If I was homeless I'd take solid four walls the size of a medium-sized tent if it meant warmth, utility services, your own toilet and anything else I'd need to even be able to focus on caring for myself or even others more than merely survive. Those tiny buildings might be the minimum, but they ARE something you can call a safe home.
I'm wondering though, how was this more cost-effective to build than a long apartment complex...? Do those tiny things not need any concrete foundation, perhaps regulatory stuff…?
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As for the residents of the houses, rent is kept at 30% of income, which means the large majority of residents pay a maximum of $200 — including all utilities and internet — every month.
How are they planning to sustain this long-term?
Surely, someone is paying for the difference. Unless I totally missed it from the article 🫣
It's why the tech millionaire financing this isn't a tech billionaire.
I get that he's financing it, but that's not sustainable if you want to implement something similar around the country.
I love the idea, and the tiny house village looks amazing! But if it relies on a millionaire to voluntarily subsidize the project, I can't see it lasting too long.
Now, that brings us to a wonderful new option: tax the rich more than we do.
The top 5 billionaires could fund 1000s of these tiny home villages with just a fraction of a percent increase on their hoarded wealth.
Sure it is. You have to have government fund it, like a normal social democracy would do.
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If it was possible to build co-ops of these it'd be what I've been suggesting for like 9 years.
Look up "housing cooperative" in your area, there might actually be one, as there's a pretty substantial number of them scattered across many locations. My area has at least 10.
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My grandma lived in this trailer park for 40 years until she died. Pretty low overhead.
Impressive, it's even a walkable place seen that it is a mixed use neighborhood with commercial buildings too
This is really great to see. So glad there are people like this out there willing to extend empathy to people who are struggling. I love that this project also respects their clients' autonomy as well. The fact that you don't have to stay sober to be there, I think it's great. Just give someone a stable roof over their head, a small support network, and I believe they can turn around their addictions and their lives.
Damn, $200 sounds low, on the other hand 30% is a crazy share. I'm targeting 10-15% at most.
Wait what? Your rent is 10-15% of your income? What's that like in absolute numbers?
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