Will Tiny Houses Provide Shelter from the Economic Storm?

by Shannon Moriarty · 2009-03-03 10:47:00 UTC
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Are the new SROs portable, brightly colored, and less than 64 square feet? If these prototypes catch on, they very well could be.

Talk about affordable housing. For just $1,500 a pop, these tiny pallet houses were designed by students at Emily Carr University and are meant to serve as no-frills shelters for the homeless. With a roof and a lock on the door, they sure are safer than tents.

As Michael Janzen points out, these tiny houses could help communities meet the immediate housing demand while simultaneously meeting other needs for those living on the streets:

A community like this could not only provide safe tiny homes to live temporarily but a place to lock up a few belongings while they are away at work or elsewhere. They could also help people regain a sense of pride which would work wonders for helping these folks recapture their lives.

We've talked about the growing prevalence of tent cities. We've talked about the uptick of hate crimes against the homeless and the vulnerability of people living on the streets. Are tiny shelters a viable solution for the rising homeless population?

Shannon Moriarty has worked in various homeless shelters and service organizations around the country. She is a graduate student studying housing and urban policy at Tufts University.
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