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Am I alone in finding this "tiny home" trend insane? There's nothing wrong with downsizing, but just call it what it is: a mobile home or a trailer. Companies

Am I alone in finding this "tiny home" trend insane? There's nothing wrong with downsizing, but just call it what it is: a mobile home or a trailer. Companies have been engineering mobile homes for decades to be highly efficient, long lasting, and fuel efficient for towing. Slapping a bunch of heavy wooden shingles on one and calling it a "tiny home" is just feel-good hipster nonsense.

runamok 10y ago
Except that most cities criminalize living out of your vehicle. Renting a space to put your RV, mobile home, etc. is a non-trivial expense for many. I read an article about how emotionally draining it was for people to constantly have to move around, worry about police, get hassled by residents, not know where they could shower or eat, etc. but I can't find it now. Not to mention I can't imagine how hard it is to fall asleep and actually rest with all those fears. Some articles: http://mv-voice.com/news/2015/10/23/makeshift-rv-camps-spark-concern http://mv-voice.com/news/2015/10/23/makeshift-rv-camps-spark... http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/high-rents-force-silicon-valley-live-vehicles/ http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/high-rents-force-silicon-vall... http://www.businessinsider.com/inside-the-silicon-valley-van-dwellers-reddit-community-2016-6 http://www.businessinsider.com/inside-the-silicon-valley-van... http://www.siliconvalleydebug.org/articles/2015/03/04/only-affordable-place-live-san-jose-my-car http://www.siliconvalleydebug.org/articles/2015/03/04/only-a... https://www.quora.com/When-living-out-of-your-car-where-are-the-best-places-to-park-to-avoid-being-noticed https://www.quora.com/When-living-out-of-your-car-where-are-... https://www.quora.com/When-living-out-of-your-car-where-are-the-best-places-to-park-to-avoid-being-noticed https://www.quora.com/When-living-out-of-your-car-where-are-... http://gawker.com/you-better-not-outlaw-living-in-cars-unless-youre-givin-1561291148 http://gawker.com/you-better-not-outlaw-living-in-cars-unles...
internaut 10y ago
Tiny Houser here. Could be insane. Mz called me eccentric recently. Sounds like a prelude to the full thing! > There's nothing wrong with downsizing, but just call it what it is: a mobile home or a trailer. You can call it whatever you like. There is a certain amount of class warfare between Tiny Housers and people living in RV parks which I won't try to justify. > Companies have been engineering mobile homes for decades to be highly efficient, long lasting, and fuel efficient for towing. This is not true at all. 1. It is not legal to live in trailers. 2. Most mobile phones are not capable of being 4 season dwellings because they don't meet air tightness and insulation levels of traditional houses. 3. Mobile homes were originally not supposed to be for permanent trailer parks. RV living is a hack like THs are. I think it started after the Great Depression, which would be analogous to the Great Stagnation we're in that produced the popularity of Tiny Houses. 4. The most important thing is the use case for a TH is totally different to an RV or mobile home. A TH is supposed to be lived in full time and quite rarely traveled around with. 90% of tiny housers would only move their house once a year and many of them never will. The people who have them light enough for frequent travel are the exceptions. 5. A properly constructed Tiny House will last > 60 years like a traditional house. RVs don't have that longevity. > Slapping a bunch of heavy wooden shingles on one and calling it a "tiny home" is just feel-good hipster nonsense. Traditional housing has identical materials and procedures to Tiny Houses. I suppose a house is just a bunch of material slapped together as well. I think if you stepped inside a well built and designed Tiny House, your skepticism would fade away. They really are different to mobile homes. The sills are thicker, the furnishings are more homely, the walls aren't plastic. There are some really nice mobile homes out there but they just don't have the same use case. One negative thing I shall say about Tiny Housers is that some of them think they 'chose' this lifestyle being they're superior beings. A minimalist lifestyle is fine but it is primarily about economics.

runamok 10y ago

Except that most cities criminalize living out of your vehicle. Renting a space to put your RV, mobile home, etc. is a non-trivial expense for many. I read an article about how emotionally draining it was for people to constantly have to move around, worry about police, get hassled by residents, not know where they could shower or eat, etc. but I can't find it now. Not to mention I can't imagine how hard it is to fall asleep and actually rest with all those fears. Some articles: http://mv-voice.com/news/2015/10/23/makeshift-rv-camps-spark-concern http://mv-voice.com/news/2015/10/23/makeshift-rv-camps-spark... http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/high-rents-force-silicon-valley-live-vehicles/ http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/high-rents-force-silicon-vall... http://www.businessinsider.com/inside-the-silicon-valley-van-dwellers-reddit-community-2016-6 http://www.businessinsider.com/inside-the-silicon-valley-van... http://www.siliconvalleydebug.org/articles/2015/03/04/only-affordable-place-live-san-jose-my-car http://www.siliconvalleydebug.org/articles/2015/03/04/only-a... https://www.quora.com/When-living-out-of-your-car-where-are-the-best-places-to-park-to-avoid-being-noticed https://www.quora.com/When-living-out-of-your-car-where-are-... https://www.quora.com/When-living-out-of-your-car-where-are-the-best-places-to-park-to-avoid-being-noticed https://www.quora.com/When-living-out-of-your-car-where-are-... http://gawker.com/you-better-not-outlaw-living-in-cars-unless-youre-givin-1561291148 http://gawker.com/you-better-not-outlaw-living-in-cars-unles...

internaut 10y ago

Tiny Houser here. Could be insane. Mz called me eccentric recently. Sounds like a prelude to the full thing! > There's nothing wrong with downsizing, but just call it what it is: a mobile home or a trailer. You can call it whatever you like. There is a certain amount of class warfare between Tiny Housers and people living in RV parks which I won't try to justify. > Companies have been engineering mobile homes for decades to be highly efficient, long lasting, and fuel efficient for towing. This is not true at all. 1. It is not legal to live in trailers. 2. Most mobile phones are not capable of being 4 season dwellings because they don't meet air tightness and insulation levels of traditional houses. 3. Mobile homes were originally not supposed to be for permanent trailer parks. RV living is a hack like THs are. I think it started after the Great Depression, which would be analogous to the Great Stagnation we're in that produced the popularity of Tiny Houses. 4. The most important thing is the use case for a TH is totally different to an RV or mobile home. A TH is supposed to be lived in full time and quite rarely traveled around with. 90% of tiny housers would only move their house once a year and many of them never will. The people who have them light enough for frequent travel are the exceptions. 5. A properly constructed Tiny House will last > 60 years like a traditional house. RVs don't have that longevity. > Slapping a bunch of heavy wooden shingles on one and calling it a "tiny home" is just feel-good hipster nonsense. Traditional housing has identical materials and procedures to Tiny Houses. I suppose a house is just a bunch of material slapped together as well. I think if you stepped inside a well built and designed Tiny House, your skepticism would fade away. They really are different to mobile homes. The sills are thicker, the furnishings are more homely, the walls aren't plastic. There are some really nice mobile homes out there but they just don't have the same use case. One negative thing I shall say about Tiny Housers is that some of them think they 'chose' this lifestyle being they're superior beings. A minimalist lifestyle is fine but it is primarily about economics.