From TV shows such as Tiny House Hunters to books such as The Big Tiny, the notion of living a smaller-scale life has large-scale awareness.
“People are overhoused,” said Mark Stemen, Chico State professor of geography and planning, noting how the average American takes the same amount of residential space that two generations ago sufficed for an entire family.
The popular—and popularized—approach to downsizing is the tiny home that resembles an RV, with comforts of a traditional residence fitted into less square footage (sometimes even on wheels), sitting solitary on a plot of land.
Another arrangement has begun to draw attention: the tiny-house village.
The idea is simple. Rather than live alone, friends and families come together and build a collection of tiny houses nestled around a common building comprising their kitchen, dining room, laundry and living room. Each residence can be small—in Chico, for instance, 220 square feet (see chart)—and the shared structure needn’t be cavernous, either.
“Having multiple tiny houses is a way to re-envision how people live their lives in Chico,” Stemen said.
The idea has been raised locally as one potential solution for homelessness. While city Principal Planner Brendan Vieg said the city has received no formal proposal, a tiny-house village for homeless people got the green light this month in Sonoma County, where the Board of Supervisors dedicated a piece of public property for this purpose. The move came on the heels of an ordinance in Fresno that classified tiny homes as backyard cottages, thereby codifying (i.e., legitimizing) the buildings.
Even for residents already housed, villages represent an option with upsides from a municipal perspective.
To continue reading this article by Evan Tuchinsky, go to: https://www.newsreview.com/chi...content?oid=19739276
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