Housing/TinyHouseTeachIn

This event took place on March 2, 2015 at Impact Hub Oakland, hosted by the Sustainable Economies Law Center

=Dignity Village - Portland=
 * Dignity Village in Portland - founded in 2000, started this movement
 * Styled as 'innovative design and sustainability' (ps it's for homeless people)
 * TEDx talk - Badass Democracy - Reclaiming the Public Commons

=Opportunity Village - Eugene=
 * Opportunity Village in Eugene - about a year and a half old
 * Houses 42 people, about 30 houses, 8x8 or 8x10 and small huts
 * Andrew Heben
 * 1 acre plot in an industrial part of town, donated by the city as a pilot project
 * Scary town meetings when attempt was made in more public parts of town
 * Shared toilets and showers, sign up for a shower
 * Kitchen trailer, front desk, community yurt
 * Village council makes decisions
 * City planner wrote a biz plan, then they built a structure and travelled around getting local stakeholders and the city interested
 * No existing zoning for the units - often considered trailers. No real precedent, city tends to approve
 * Playing the game, of 'transitional housing' toward transitioning back into society

=O.M. Village - Madison=
 * O.M. Village in Madison
 * Well-insulated, have heaters in each residence
 * Currently 3 structures, 9 planned
 * 1/3 of an acre, purchased for ~150K
 * Build out of the old gas station garage
 * Want to train people to build them
 * Residents also help build, sweat equity involved
 * Build and sell furniture made from recycled pallets
 * One of the activist-organizers a former city councilwoman
 * Movement toward zoning/coding regulations for tiny homes
 * Brenda Konkel
 * Also on the outskirts of town

=Discussion= so now is 126 sqft
 * Trying to start one in Santa Cruz
 * Some more in Seattle, Fresno, Ventura, Chico
 * Right to Dream 2 - tent city in downtown Portland - supported by a private individual
 * 15 people living there, ~70 folks who can come in to sleep for the night
 * Portapotties for the public
 * Large tents - mens and womens - and residents tents in back
 * Part of the deal for living there is 20hrs/wk of shifts and some involvement in activism
 * Food Not Bombs makes food in the communal kitchen once a week, otherwise donations
 * Group creating a tiny house development - one structure has all the things. But camps/RV parks etc have lots of restrictions
 * Postworks in West Oakland
 * No stated minimum dwelling size in original International Building Code; worked out ~220 sq feet. Removed req. for a 10x12 room in the IBC on Jan. 1,
 * Costs: Opportunity Village - $100K + donated land for 1yr + materials
 * Community Land Trust - you own improvements to the land, but not the land
 * Governance - committees to decide admission; Village Council elected by the residents

=Questions:=
 * Where to house released prisoners?
 * How do we hack the city?
 * Partner with Habitat for Humanity & Timebank
 * What counts as an official 'dwelling'?
 * No plumbing and heat
 * Dwelling includes food prep *and* bathing

=Other projects mentioned:= 1930s - housing villages supported by the federal govt, created as cooperative worker housing. Part of the public housing policy in the US until 1981
 * Tiny Home Village Project - becoming a 501c3 - want to provide support for groups that want to form a village
 * Transition Albany
 * Dancing Rabbit in Missouri
 * Atchinson Village in Richmond for workers in shipyards - now a successful cooperative with 40-60 homes. Houses date back to early '40s
 * --> true still in some public housing in SF, working to reclaim them as cooperatives
 * Emerald Village in Eugene is in planning
 * Quixote Village in Olympia

=Works Cited=
 * Youtube: 'Exploring the Sanctuary Camp Concept'
 * Tent City Urbanism

=Meetup tomorrow!=
 * Dancing Rabbit Ecovillage @ East Bay Media Center, details @ EBCOHO website