Friday, August 28, 2015
Fantastically stupid idea
This sort of shit keeps popping up over and over with slight variations. A whole lot of work by well-meaning people, with exactly zero result.
He envisions a movement where funds are raised to build slightly larger homes — from 200 to 800 square feet — that would still be considered part of the tiny-home market and provide an option below the lowest rungs of market rent, which is soaring. In the first quarter of 2015, the average monthly rent in the Nashville area stood at $975, according to Colliers market report. Such housing would fill the gaps between such high-cost rental spaces and the low-income units, like those subsidized by Section 8, for which there are often long waits. But for now, Carr continues to work with homeless organizations and local faith-based communities to identify land for micro villages. Green Street, he hopes, is just the first; and it has room, Carr said, to expand to a total of 25 micro homes. So the effort continues. "We'd love to pepper this yard with houses," said Tripp Hunt, the church's attorney. ... Those people will move in this weekend, continuing to use the other amenities provided by the church like restrooms and showers, but it is not meant to be a permanent placement. ... Living in a small house with four walls and a roof, which is a good way for the homeless to sample apartment-style living as they work toward new independence.= = = = = What's wrong? 1. The homeless are not involved in BUILDING the homes. They're still jobless, still feeling useless and charitized, still outside the circle of dignity. 2. If you're going to spend $7500 for a portable home, buy a used travel trailer instead. It's completely livable, self-contained and wonderfully well-designed. In every town there are hundreds of travel trailers sitting in driveways, never traveling. A church could run a campaign to buy them and pay the homeless dudes to spruce them up. 3. A "community of microhomes" in a yard with communal kitchen and bathroom is exactly the same as a tent camp. You're not "sampling apartment-style living". Apartments are typically LARGER than houses for the same rent, not 6 feet wide. ¶ 2:30 AM
