These 2 links are on to something:
http://www.tumbleweedhouses.com/
http://www.edar.org

A sustainable housing system that houses the poor can indeed be mobile
and the hearts are in the right place in providing low income housing.

I consider the tumbleweed home with an additional wrinkle.

Could you build such a structure entirely off mains?

could you run it with rainwater off the roof - filtered of course,
with electricity generated by a combined heat and power system
designed for ultra-micro living.
Could a homeless person get a trailer and suddenly have a home parked by
the road side? That is brill.

actually longer. Here's a couple of pics. And look on Ebay at the mobilehomes, they give you some great ideas for living small. I think I will start with a shed out back ;) I already have a big house and the land so that's where I will start. Living in it I will be able to get the feel of small living and organize my stuff to only what I really need and want. Then if I see it works for me then I can make a more permanent move to tiny!


http://i109.photobucket.com/albums/n67/seemslikeadream/mytinyhouse/080123_2.jpg

http://i109.photobucket.com/albums/n67/seemslikeadream/mytinyhouse/080123_5.jpg

It's okay I guess but why should we live in Homeless Shelters(Tents) or Tiny houses the size of a Tractor Shed?

Americans need to downsize to homes 1200 feet or less, they do not have to live inside a Shed!

If the homes are built as Zero Energy Homes with Materials that last(not Singles and other throw-away material) then it would be Sustainable.

Is this a Product of our Economic Meltdown?

Are some of the Folks now Mixing Green ideas with Economic Realities of our Present Situation?

Americans Deserve better, alot of them have screwed up royally but it does not mean we must now live at third world levels, it is time to take the country out of the hand of the Mobster(Bankers) and have a Prosperous, Sustainable Future not Masking Poverty with Sustainability.

I can't Afford anything anymore so I'll live in a Homeless tent or Shed out in the woods is not my idea of solving the problems.

Don't let them mask their Evil ways with a Farce Environmental Movement-You can have a Sustainable Lifestyle without living like a Homeless person or outcast.

A real Environmental Movement includes Economics, Social Justice and Sustainability.

It does not Destroy the people and their Quality of life.

ya gotta wonder if the folks that promote this practice what they preach?

We live in a house that is 2700 square feet (that includes the 3-car garage which we use for some storage), and I think it's too big. We lease the place at a reasonable rate and have a kind landlord, but it's still quite a lot for the maintenance and upkeep that we're responsible for (lawn, pest control, appliances, etc...). For years when I was single I lived in luxury garden apartments that were smaller, safe, reasonable, and relatively new. I far preferred that way of life, though I may have been fortunate in that I lived alone and rarely had disruptive neighbors. Apartments/condos seem to make so much more sense than many individual homes. I guess the value of the "tiny house" is portability. It would be very tough to live in that with a family though.