5 ms·

Self-driving homes could be the future of affordable housing

20 points by Osiris30 8y ago

abraham_lincoln 8y ago
I talked with some friends about this idea. A solar-powered RV that never stops and can follow the seasons or chase daylight...
33a 8y ago
Then after that airbnb & uber for your self driving bed.
subhobroto 8y ago
Housing is not affordable primarily because of rentseeking behavior from a constrained supply. "Self-driving homes" have been available to every American for decades. They are called RVs. A more affordable and practical version are trailers. There are trailers that expand out when parked to effectively double the floor space. While living in a trailer is perfectly doable, there is a significant degradation in the quality of life. Living in a studio apartment is, for the average person, a completely different experience than living in even a nice $70k trailer that has 3 beds and two bathrooms with sewage and 15A hookups. Let's assume that the quality of life was comparable - it still costs thousands of dollars to rent a parking spot with hookups so you can live in a vehicle. The concept the article is about is absolutely insane and far detached from reality. It's a wierd take on a RV that combines all the responsibilities of owning a trailer with the responsibilities of owning an automobile with the risk of being unable to use the "home" when the automobile needs to go in for repairs coupled with the nightmare of having thousands of intricate parts that cannot be purchased without going through the dealership. This is impractical and a disaster. This not only fails to address affordable housing completely but makes a complete mockery of it. Housing is not affordable primarily because of rentseeking behavior from a constrained supply. Even if Honda, Mercedes-Benz, Volvo et al were to mass produce these RVs and sell millions of them (which they will not), these vehicles will need to be parked somewhere and the rental fee for these parking spots will then become unaffordable for most. Did it solve the unaffordable housing problem in the end? No.
- maimeowmeow 8y ago
  The title makes it seem like these homes will always be moving, so no parking spots are needed. Maybe one day, there will be high efficiency solar panels that will quickcharge off of star, or street lighting.
  - GhostVII 8y ago
    What advantage would always moving homes have over parked ones? They still take up the same amount of space, just the space they take up is always changing, and is more valuable since it also happens to be on a road.
    - PurpleRamen 8y ago
      There would be zero cost for renting the space. Well, until communitys fetch on and have special laws for this solution.
    - bachbach 8y ago
      It's about a migration model for jobs I think. You have two jobs, one in the city at weekends and another in the suburbs. You're out of the way for commuters and don't need to commute for long hours. In the suburbs you might be paid to be there instead of paying to be there because you might be providing services like security, gardening while in the city the job might be cleaning. A lot of people would like somebody trustworthy keeping an eye on their property while they're at work and there are a lot of vacant parking spaces in cities at the weekends. I haven't quite worked it out because when the commuter arrives home you might be in their space but maybe somebody can offer another version of the model.
      - subhobroto 8y ago
        Bingo. Utilization. I'm working on it. Would you like to discuss this offline?
        bachbach 8y ago
tonyedgecombe 8y ago
"In Los Angeles alone, it is estimated that 15,000 people are already living in their cars" That is an appalling statistic.
- justtopost 8y ago
  Kind of. While some are 'van lifers' many are poor who still prefer slumming in socal to affordable housing in say, tennessee. Never underestimate the innate stubborness of humans.
  - subhobroto 8y ago
    I know of doctors, lawyers, dentists and software engineers who earned six figure incomes who had to live in their cars or vans. For months at a time. In LA.
barrow-rider 8y ago
Self-driving trailer parks. I'm trying to imagine the Trailer Park Boys if there were robots moving them around the NE.
beenBoutIT 8y ago
It'll be a big deal when cars(or Google Maps) can tell you if it's ok to park where you're parking or warn you that you're going to get a parking ticket.
- subhobroto 8y ago
  Nothing new. A few startups worked on it. EG: See Metromile. There is nothing for the data provider to gain out of this except headaches. They cant monetize it and they can be liable if their data becomes outdated.
  - beenBoutIT 8y ago
    Nice, I was unaware that Metromile offered that.

20 points by Osiris30 8y ago

I talked with some friends about this idea. A solar-powered RV that never stops and can follow the seasons or chase daylight...

33a 8y ago

Then after that airbnb & uber for your self driving bed.

subhobroto 8y ago

Housing is not affordable primarily because of rentseeking behavior from a constrained supply. "Self-driving homes" have been available to every American for decades. They are called RVs. A more affordable and practical version are trailers. There are trailers that expand out when parked to effectively double the floor space. While living in a trailer is perfectly doable, there is a significant degradation in the quality of life. Living in a studio apartment is, for the average person, a completely different experience than living in even a nice $70k trailer that has 3 beds and two bathrooms with sewage and 15A hookups. Let's assume that the quality of life was comparable - it still costs thousands of dollars to rent a parking spot with hookups so you can live in a vehicle. The concept the article is about is absolutely insane and far detached from reality. It's a wierd take on a RV that combines all the responsibilities of owning a trailer with the responsibilities of owning an automobile with the risk of being unable to use the "home" when the automobile needs to go in for repairs coupled with the nightmare of having thousands of intricate parts that cannot be purchased without going through the dealership. This is impractical and a disaster. This not only fails to address affordable housing completely but makes a complete mockery of it. Housing is not affordable primarily because of rentseeking behavior from a constrained supply. Even if Honda, Mercedes-Benz, Volvo et al were to mass produce these RVs and sell millions of them (which they will not), these vehicles will need to be parked somewhere and the rental fee for these parking spots will then become unaffordable for most. Did it solve the unaffordable housing problem in the end? No.

maimeowmeow 8y ago
The title makes it seem like these homes will always be moving, so no parking spots are needed. Maybe one day, there will be high efficiency solar panels that will quickcharge off of star, or street lighting.
- GhostVII 8y ago
  What advantage would always moving homes have over parked ones? They still take up the same amount of space, just the space they take up is always changing, and is more valuable since it also happens to be on a road.
  - PurpleRamen 8y ago
    There would be zero cost for renting the space. Well, until communitys fetch on and have special laws for this solution.
  - bachbach 8y ago
    It's about a migration model for jobs I think. You have two jobs, one in the city at weekends and another in the suburbs. You're out of the way for commuters and don't need to commute for long hours. In the suburbs you might be paid to be there instead of paying to be there because you might be providing services like security, gardening while in the city the job might be cleaning. A lot of people would like somebody trustworthy keeping an eye on their property while they're at work and there are a lot of vacant parking spaces in cities at the weekends. I haven't quite worked it out because when the commuter arrives home you might be in their space but maybe somebody can offer another version of the model.
    - subhobroto 8y ago
      Bingo. Utilization. I'm working on it. Would you like to discuss this offline?
      - bachbach 8y ago

tonyedgecombe 8y ago

"In Los Angeles alone, it is estimated that 15,000 people are already living in their cars" That is an appalling statistic.

justtopost 8y ago
Kind of. While some are 'van lifers' many are poor who still prefer slumming in socal to affordable housing in say, tennessee. Never underestimate the innate stubborness of humans.
- subhobroto 8y ago
  I know of doctors, lawyers, dentists and software engineers who earned six figure incomes who had to live in their cars or vans. For months at a time. In LA.

barrow-rider 8y ago

Self-driving trailer parks. I'm trying to imagine the Trailer Park Boys if there were robots moving them around the NE.

beenBoutIT 8y ago

It'll be a big deal when cars(or Google Maps) can tell you if it's ok to park where you're parking or warn you that you're going to get a parking ticket.

subhobroto 8y ago
Nothing new. A few startups worked on it. EG: See Metromile. There is nothing for the data provider to gain out of this except headaches. They cant monetize it and they can be liable if their data becomes outdated.
- beenBoutIT 8y ago
  Nice, I was unaware that Metromile offered that.