{"items": [{"author": "Kristin", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/767226918982?comment_id=767227093632", "anchor": "fb-767227093632", "service": "fb", "text": "thanks for posting", "timestamp": "1453127255"}, {"author": "Alex", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/767226918982?comment_id=767230651502", "anchor": "fb-767230651502", "service": "fb", "text": "Yeah, no.

This is the trend in the UK and it's awful. The tiny houses mean socialising with friends becomes harder, holding onto things you don't need now but will in a year (decorations, fancy clothes, househould supplies) becomes harder, and everyone is under everyone else's feet much more, straining families and friendships. It compounds the poverty trap immensely (you have to go out to socialise, you can't hold onto expensive quality items, you desperately need to go out just to get some space of your own), and usually the only people who buy these houses are buy-to-rent slumlords who know the only person who would choose to live in something to inadequate probably doesn't have a choice, failing to actually reduce house prices for purchasing.

Also, relaxing planning laws is not a good thing in and of itself, those relaxations have to be careful not to \"pave paradise to put up a parking lot\" and also not cause a collapse in the quality of life an area already has established.", "timestamp": "1453128522"}, {"author": "Ruthan", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/767226918982?comment_id=767230651502&reply_comment_id=767241988782", "anchor": "fb-767230651502_767241988782", "service": "fb", "text": "→ There exist solutions to a lot of these problems (at least in the US: self-storage, fancy dress rental, coworking space.) But I think you hit upon an important point, which is that tiny housing as it's actually done is a solution for middle class-ish folks with unusual preferences rather than people who can't afford to buy traditional housing.", "timestamp": "1453131861"}, {"author": "David Chudzicki", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/767226918982?comment_id=767230651502&reply_comment_id=767242697362", "anchor": "fb-767230651502_767242697362", "service": "fb", "text": "→ The place-to-socialize issue is less bad in nice weather.", "timestamp": "1453132207"}, {"author": "Alex", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/767226918982?comment_id=767230651502&reply_comment_id=767243805142", "anchor": "fb-767230651502_767243805142", "service": "fb", "text": "→ Ruthan: Those are all expensive solutions. What's the point of cheap tiny houses when you're throwing money away in renting that space anyway? Also, no good if you are limited by access to these services.", "timestamp": "1453132714"}, {"author": "Alex", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/767226918982?comment_id=767230651502&reply_comment_id=767244079592", "anchor": "fb-767230651502_767244079592", "service": "fb", "text": "→ David: Tiny houses don't come with big gardens. Access to parks and nice, accessible spaces is not a right nor a guarantee, especially if we relax planning laws to build over them", "timestamp": "1453132808"}, {"author": "Jeff Kaufman", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/767226918982?comment_id=767230651502&reply_comment_id=767247053632", "anchor": "fb-767230651502_767247053632", "service": "fb", "text": "→ @Alex: \"relax planning laws to build over [parks and nice accessible spaces]\"

No one here is advocating this, certainly not me.

I think we should loosen zoning with regard to how many units you can build on a lot, how many sqft a unit needs to be, how much parking is required, minimum room sizes, and how many sqft you can build out on a lot. These are all in the \"let people use existing lots to house more people\" category.", "timestamp": "1453133931"}, {"author": "Jeff Kaufman", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/767226918982?comment_id=767230651502&reply_comment_id=767247687362", "anchor": "fb-767230651502_767247687362", "service": "fb", "text": "→ @Alex: \"failing to actually reduce house prices for purchasing\"

Even if allowing these units only decreased prices for renting and not for purchasing I would still see that as very positive.", "timestamp": "1453134305"}, {"author": "Alex", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/767226918982?comment_id=767230651502&reply_comment_id=767251414892", "anchor": "fb-767230651502_767251414892", "service": "fb", "text": "→ It hasn't in the UK and I can't imagine it would unless the construction was taking place in 1950's scale of entire towns.", "timestamp": "1453135242"}, {"author": "opted out", "source_link": "#", "anchor": "unknown", "service": "unknown", "text": "→ this user has requested that their comments not be shown here", "timestamp": "1453142875"}, {"author": "opted out", "source_link": "#", "anchor": "unknown", "service": "unknown", "text": "→ this user has requested that their comments not be shown here", "timestamp": "1453143124"}, {"author": "David Chudzicki", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/767226918982?comment_id=767230651502&reply_comment_id=767268001652", "anchor": "fb-767230651502_767268001652", "service": "fb", "text": "→ Elliot: Fair enough. So here's what's actually bothering me:

Whenever anyone (e.g. Jeff) suggests relaxing exclusionary zoning, someone (e.g. Alex) writes something about how the proposed improvement wouldn't actually be good for the people currently being excluded. I'd prefer to let people make these tradeoffs for themselves. I don't actually think points like Alex's really have much to do with why Somerville continues to be zoned so that only pretty rich people can live here (that's more about protecting property values and protecting current inhabitants from living near the kind of people they don't want to live near). But I'm worried it provides a bit of rhetorical cover for these less benign motivations.", "timestamp": "1453143679"}, {"author": "Alex", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/767226918982?comment_id=767230651502&reply_comment_id=767270995652", "anchor": "fb-767230651502_767270995652", "service": "fb", "text": "→ So let's say they relax zoning laws, and some micro houses spring up. The houses have appeared in existing property, so someone presumably already owns them. That someone, having the resources to build a house, and the knowledge that this is a good idea, is likely to already be a landlord. Now, why rent this for less than an equivalent existing space? In fact, charge a premium for the novelty and that you get to live alone.

So, now we have a couple of completely unsustainable boxes masquerading as houses which no one wants to live in unless it's this or homeless. The rent money goes directly to the already wealthy landlord. You can't make them into homes, you'd never be able to live in one of these if you want a partner to move in, never mind raise kids. You end up with a group of young people trapped in these boxes, unable to start families or even build meaningful relationships.

I should be clear though, I'm all for building good sized homes. I'd rather zoning started looking into vertical rather than horizontal living. A tower block with good, spacious flats will do far more to build a community and give people somewhere to live than these shoe boxes. Fuck property values,I want homes built, not boxes everyone over the age of 50 just keeps flipping for more and more horrendously silly numbers.", "timestamp": "1453144986"}, {"author": "Jeff Kaufman", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/767226918982?comment_id=767230651502&reply_comment_id=767278301012", "anchor": "fb-767230651502_767278301012", "service": "fb", "text": "→ @Alex: \"having the resources to build a house, and the knowledge that this is a good idea, is likely to already be a landlord\"

Maybe this is different elsewhere? In my part of the US it's very common to have properties with two units where someone lives in one and rents out the other. That's the majority of residential lots in my town [1] though I don't know how many are owner-occupied and how many are two rental units.

Anyway, so I would expect most people taking advantage of this would be homeowners, but not mostly people who were already landlords.

(Also, I'm not sure why you care about this. If most new rental units are created by people who are already landlords vs new landlords, why does it matter?)

\"Now, why rent this for less than an equivalent existing space?\"

Rent is a product of supply and demand, and rental housing is a pretty competitive market. Increase supply (with these new houses) and prices will fall (or rise less than they would have otherwise).

\"charge a premium for the novelty and that you get to live alone.\"

Rents are higher per sqft for 1br units than larger units because there are a lot of people who do like to live alone or with one other person. This isn't a novelty, this is a preference a lot of people have.

\"completely unsustainable boxes\"

In general I'm not too keen on the term \"sustainable\" since people tend to mean a lot of different things by it, so it would be helpful if you clarified which meaning you intend. Hastings is very into sustainability, and certainly believes her unit to be highly sustainable as she understands the term.

\"which no one wants to live in unless it's this or homeless.\"

First, building housing that keeps people from being homeless is great! If creating a unit means someone doesn't have to sleep on the street, that's very positive.

But I also don't know why you would say someone would only choose one of these units if their alternative was living on the street? I mean, I understand they're not the sort of place you would like to live, but I lived in a 380sqft unit for a year [2] and it's not that small.

My preference run towards living with lots of other people, sharing a large house very many ways, but many other people prefer more privacy and solitude.

\"The rent money goes directly to the already wealthy landlord.\"

Building more units makes housing cheaper per unit. Landlords do benefit, but so do tenants.

\"You can't make them into homes, you'd never be able to live in one of these if you want a partner to move in, never mind raise kids. You end up with a group of young people trapped in these boxes, unable to start families or even build meaningful relationships.\"

It's very common around here for younger people to live with lots of other people in a 3br+ apartment, moving every couple years. As people start to pair up and have kids they move to other housing, either to an apartment for themselves or by buying a house. It's already pretty impractical to start a family in one room of a 3br apartment. [3]

People living in apartments that are the right size for their current family, and moving as they meet others and have kids is not a problem, and is what already happens.

[1] I count 9,783 residential lots, 5,148 of which are two-family.

[2] http://www.apartmenttherapy.com/small-cool-2010-7-114109

[3] Well, that's basically what we're currently doing. But as our kid get older (21mo) having her in our room is less and less what we want.", "timestamp": "1453149433"}, {"author": "MN", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/767226918982?comment_id=767241180402", "anchor": "fb-767241180402", "service": "fb", "text": "FYI, the term of art missing here is \"accessory dwelling unit\", also known as the \"granny flat\".", "timestamp": "1453131477"}, {"author": "Jeff Kaufman", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/767226918982?comment_id=767241180402&reply_comment_id=767247288162", "anchor": "fb-767241180402_767247288162", "service": "fb", "text": "→ That's a broader term, which includes units that aren't free-standing. For example, Hadley does have rules that allow those in some cases, but wouldn't allow Hastings' unit because it's detached.", "timestamp": "1453134089"}, {"author": "Jeff Kaufman", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/767226918982?comment_id=767241180402&reply_comment_id=767247372992", "anchor": "fb-767241180402_767247372992", "service": "fb", "text": "→ (The plurality of residential lots in Somerville a have two unit buildings already.)", "timestamp": "1453134130"}, {"author": "John", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/767226918982?comment_id=767242133492", "anchor": "fb-767242133492", "service": "fb", "text": "This isn't a very new idea. Have you seen the Wesleyan Grove area in Oak Bluffs, on Martha's Vineyard? It's listed as a historic district, and started as a religious retreat community in the early 1800s. It's full of tiny cottages, mostly with full Victorian era (\"frilly\") decorations. If you haven't seen it, it's worth a trip to see what was done there. Maybe in warmer weather than now, though, when the leaves are green. Google can show you lots of photos of the tiny houses. But I'd guess that most cities' zoning rules would block this sort of development today.", "timestamp": "1453132046"}, {"author": "Chris", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/767226918982?comment_id=767242133492&reply_comment_id=767251764192", "anchor": "fb-767242133492_767251764192", "service": "fb", "text": "→ Easier to get to is Asbury Grove in Hamilton, MA. It sounds like an identical (historically) setting.", "timestamp": "1453135412"}, {"author": "Jacob", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/767226918982?comment_id=767242133492&reply_comment_id=767260950782", "anchor": "fb-767242133492_767260950782", "service": "fb", "text": "→ The Oak Bluffs cottages are still bigger than what is usually meant by 'tiny houses'. About double, by my guess.", "timestamp": "1453139681"}, {"author": "John", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/767226918982?comment_id=767242133492&reply_comment_id=767299962602", "anchor": "fb-767242133492_767299962602", "service": "fb", "text": "→ I looked at the Asbury Grove site online, and the houses look like normal-size NE , with no sign of the \"gingerbread\" decor in Oak Bluffs. It does sound like another old religious community.", "timestamp": "1453161471"}, {"author": "Chris", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/767226918982?comment_id=767242133492&reply_comment_id=767360860562", "anchor": "fb-767242133492_767360860562", "service": "fb", "text": "→ You've got to go in further. My buddy stayed in one that was about 400 sq ft. The front row or two of houses are full size.", "timestamp": "1453204987"}, {"author": "Jim", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/767226918982?comment_id=767259828032", "anchor": "fb-767259828032", "service": "fb", "text": "If the goal is to bring down the cost of housing, this style of house is very bad because it's limited to one or two floors. It's much better to build tall apartment buildings; when you include land cost, they cost much less per square foot, and they have other benefits like efficient heating and air conditioning (the square-cube law works in their favor) and flexibility (it's relatively cheap to change internal walls).", "timestamp": "1453138851"}, {"author": "Jeff Kaufman", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/767226918982?comment_id=767259828032&reply_comment_id=767267762132", "anchor": "fb-767259828032_767267762132", "service": "fb", "text": "→ If units like these get an exception to setback rules we're otherwise not willing to give they can still be helpful. We're generally more comfortable with having small one story buildings up against the property line than a full 3+ stories.

If you look at the ones of these we already have, they tend to be in places that would otherwise be yard. And right now you can put a shed in a place like that, you just can't put up living space.", "timestamp": "1453143607"}, {"author": "Alyssa", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/767226918982?comment_id=767259828032&reply_comment_id=767275252122", "anchor": "fb-767259828032_767275252122", "service": "fb", "text": "→ Jim In 99.9% of the US, it's illegal to build tall apartment buildings. In many places, tiny houses can be built on land that would otherwise be legally required to be empty.", "timestamp": "1453147166"}, {"author": "Jim", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/767226918982?comment_id=767259828032&reply_comment_id=767276290042", "anchor": "fb-767259828032_767276290042", "service": "fb", "text": "→ As it turns out, the tiny house in this anecdote wasn't allowed under zoning law, either, so it wasn't a very good workaround.", "timestamp": "1453147942"}, {"author": "David Chudzicki", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/767226918982?comment_id=767259828032&reply_comment_id=767279942722", "anchor": "fb-767259828032_767279942722", "service": "fb", "text": "→ Jim: Seems like a reasonable workaround in that she could actually do it (flouting the rules) and then work up some momentum for changing the rules. Doing something similar with a tall building seems a lot harder.", "timestamp": "1453150424"}, {"author": "Jeff Kaufman", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/767226918982?comment_id=767259828032&reply_comment_id=767280012582", "anchor": "fb-767259828032_767280012582", "service": "fb", "text": "→ And she does get to keep it there until she has had her shot at convincing the town to allow houses like this permanently.", "timestamp": "1453150468"}, {"author": "Anna", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/767226918982?comment_id=767259862962", "anchor": "fb-767259862962", "service": "fb", "text": "Unfortunately, I don't think these types of units are well suited to a place like Somerville, which is already quite densely populated. The zoning issues in Somerville that could make housing cheaper would be making it easier to build smaller apartments in taller buildings.", "timestamp": "1453138859"}, {"author": "Brian", "source_link": "https://plus.google.com/114156500057804356924", "anchor": "gp-1453138862440", "service": "gp", "text": "It seems like a developer with an empty lot in an expensive area could house more people by building an apartment building? Tiny houses seem like a niche thing for infilling in the suburbs without changing the main house.\n
\n
\nWhere land is cheap, trailer parks are the popular low cost option, and it seems like manufactured homes would be the best way to reduce costs. Building a tiny house instead of getting a trailer seems like a class thing.", "timestamp": 1453138862}, {"author": "opted out", "source_link": "#", "anchor": "unknown", "service": "unknown", "text": "this user has requested that their comments not be shown here", "timestamp": "1453142361"}, {"author": "Jeff Kaufman", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/767226918982?comment_id=767265476712&reply_comment_id=767266594472", "anchor": "fb-767265476712_767266594472", "service": "fb", "text": "→ They're a solution to people wanting to live in one.

And zoning that allows them is probably also zoning that allows more efficient housing.", "timestamp": "1453142945"}, {"author": "opted out", "source_link": "#", "anchor": "unknown", "service": "unknown", "text": "→ this user has requested that their comments not be shown here", "timestamp": "1453143285"}, {"author": "Ruthan", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/767226918982?comment_id=767265476712&reply_comment_id=767284862862", "anchor": "fb-767265476712_767284862862", "service": "fb", "text": "→ Elliot Citation needed.", "timestamp": "1453153379"}, {"author": "MN", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/767226918982?comment_id=767266963732", "anchor": "fb-767266963732", "service": "fb", "text": "This is trying to square a circle where incumbent residents oppose permitting enough multifamily housing stock to maintain affordability, but misunderstands the objection as being against the form of multifamily, as opposed to being totally against the addition of new residents (and incidentally, in favor of rapidly appreciating property values). This is not a problem with a technical solution; it requires a full-throated political opposition to rent-seeking through zoning. There's no real point in giving away the store with this alleged compromise, as it just signals that you don't have the stomach to fight for anything that's actually useful.", "timestamp": "1453143202"}, {"author": "David Chudzicki", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/767226918982?comment_id=767266963732&reply_comment_id=767281075452", "anchor": "fb-767266963732_767281075452", "service": "fb", "text": "→ Misunderstanding your opponents motivations seems like it might be a reasonable rhetorical/political strategy. (I've always enjoyed Miss Manners' advice to assume good intentions.)

\"Oh I'm sure you aren't against new people getting to enjoy this nice neighborhood. I do see your point about multi-family units and I think I disagree. But let's start with a small change surely we can all agree on...\")", "timestamp": "1453151217"}, {"author": "MN", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/767226918982?comment_id=767266963732&reply_comment_id=767292018522", "anchor": "fb-767266963732_767292018522", "service": "fb", "text": "→ I think my opponents are optimizing a different set of utility functions (mostly to do with the market valuation of their own houses) without good understanding of how much it hurts other people, or how that damage eventually reflects back towards them. Whether this constitutes \"bad motivations\" is something I'm going to leave as an exercise to the reader (I don't think it necessarily does, but.) But I do know that I've never seen a compromise on this subject that was simultaneously inoffensive enough to the NIMBY opposition to suborn them, and effective enough to make any difference in the affordability problem.", "timestamp": "1453157967"}, {"author": "Ruthan", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/767226918982?comment_id=767284743102", "anchor": "fb-767284743102", "service": "fb", "text": "I'm really confused by the idea of high rises making housing more affordable. AFAICT that just isn't how real estate development works.", "timestamp": "1453153214"}, {"author": "Jim", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/767226918982?comment_id=767284743102&reply_comment_id=767290676212", "anchor": "fb-767284743102_767290676212", "service": "fb", "text": "→ It's not about high rises per se, but about the total number of housing units. Housing prices are determined by supply and demand. If there aren't enough housing units for all the people who want to live in an area, then not all of them can, and prices will rise until enough people have decided to live somewhere else instead. If you increase the number of people who want to live in a place, then prices will go up; if you increase the supply of housing, prices will go down. The problem is that if a town only builds two-story houses, they run out of space and can't add any more housing. High rises let them fit more units onto the same land.

Places with a lot of high rises tend to be places where a lot of people want to live, which built them to deal with the influx of people. But if they *don't* build high rises, they end up like San Francisco, where housing is ludicrously expensive.", "timestamp": "1453157359"}, {"author": "Ruthan", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/767226918982?comment_id=767284743102&reply_comment_id=767405580942", "anchor": "fb-767284743102_767405580942", "service": "fb", "text": "→ Why would I, as a real estate developer, build units such that my units would be worth less after they were built?", "timestamp": "1453227187"}, {"author": "Ruthan", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/767226918982?comment_id=767284743102&reply_comment_id=767406623852", "anchor": "fb-767284743102_767406623852", "service": "fb", "text": "→ Or, I guess, why would I build housing such that it lowered the average property value when I could build nicer housing that would raise the overall property value?", "timestamp": "1453228089"}, {"author": "Jeff Kaufman", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/767226918982?comment_id=767284743102&reply_comment_id=767410116852", "anchor": "fb-767284743102_767410116852", "service": "fb", "text": "→ It's possible to make a change that raises property values while lowering housing costs if you increase the amount of housing an area of ground can support.", "timestamp": "1453230392"}, {"author": "Jim", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/767226918982?comment_id=767284743102&reply_comment_id=767417821412", "anchor": "fb-767284743102_767417821412", "service": "fb", "text": "→ Suppose you took a (new, empty) building full of big apartments, and added a wall down the middle of each one to make it a building of small apartments instead, with twice as many of them. The small apartments will each sell/rent for less money than the big apartments, but because there are more of them, the apartment building as a whole may be worth more overall.", "timestamp": "1453234760"}, {"author": "Jim", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/767226918982?comment_id=767284743102&reply_comment_id=767418130792", "anchor": "fb-767284743102_767418130792", "service": "fb", "text": "→ This gets a lot more intuitive and easy to think about if you go through a microeconomics course or textbook, which will talk about how the prices of things-in-general are determined. From an economics perspective, houses are not very different from anything else that gets bought and sold.", "timestamp": "1453235006"}, {"author": "Jeff Kaufman", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/767226918982?comment_id=767284743102&reply_comment_id=767420985072", "anchor": "fb-767284743102_767420985072", "service": "fb", "text": "→ @Jim: The value of a house depends strongly on what people nearby decide to build, who chooses to live where, and where employers decide to locate, which does seem pretty different from typical buying and selling to me.", "timestamp": "1453236804"}, {"author": "MN", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/767226918982?comment_id=767284743102&reply_comment_id=767448704522", "anchor": "fb-767284743102_767448704522", "service": "fb", "text": "→ It's also silly to have this discussion outside of the context of zoning; what the developer is allow to build by law is very, very tightly constrained, so while the developer might be trying to maximize total profits within those constraints, you can't actually call what is happening a market force.", "timestamp": "1453250800"}, {"author": "Michael", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/767226918982?comment_id=767289353862", "anchor": "fb-767289353862", "service": "fb", "text": "Many apartments in NYC qualify as \"tiny\", and yet are still in high demand (and command high rents, though lower than larger apartments in the city).", "timestamp": "1453156438"}, {"author": "David", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/767226918982?comment_id=767289718132", "anchor": "fb-767289718132", "service": "fb", "text": "Britons live in the smallest new build houses in Europe. No cupboard space, no study space for kids, no garden space, in short, no living space. Bad design and cheap building.", "timestamp": "1453156531"}, {"author": "Jeff Kaufman", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/767226918982?comment_id=767289718132&reply_comment_id=767293849852", "anchor": "fb-767289718132_767293849852", "service": "fb", "text": "→ How many square feet are we talking about? My sense is that housing in the US tends a lot larger than in Europe and I want to see if your sense of \"small\" is similar to mine.", "timestamp": "1453159531"}, {"author": "Jeff Kaufman", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/767226918982?comment_id=767289718132&reply_comment_id=767293994562", "anchor": "fb-767289718132_767293994562", "service": "fb", "text": "→ Found your source: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/.../British-homes-are-the...

Looks like the average British house is currently 900 sqft and the average one being built now is 800 sqft.", "timestamp": "1453159704"}, {"author": "Ari", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/767226918982?comment_id=767289718132&reply_comment_id=767294558432", "anchor": "fb-767289718132_767294558432", "service": "fb", "text": "→ Jeff Kaufman \"House\" might be misleading; I suspect most of the new-build housing factored into that statistic are urban apartments (probably 2BR).", "timestamp": "1453160059"}, {"author": "Jeff Kaufman", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/767226918982?comment_id=767289718132&reply_comment_id=767296015512", "anchor": "fb-767289718132_767296015512", "service": "fb", "text": "→ Somerville minimum sizes for usable floor area are:

Studio: 400 sqft
1 Bedroom: 600 sqft
2+ Bedrooms: 900 sqft", "timestamp": "1453160665"}, {"author": "Bryan", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/767226918982?comment_id=767293101352", "anchor": "fb-767293101352", "service": "fb", "text": "Hear hear!

I live in a house with 6 adults because I love the community we have created. It would be awesome to build the community through backyard cottages, tiny homes, or extra stories.

Building extra stories is not only expensive, but anything over 2 stories is fought bitterly by a city concerned more about \"character\" and \"shadows\" than people. Building in the backyard doesn't impact either appearance or shadows, and so is more likely to be accepted into building code.

I want to build structures and room arrangements that work well for multi-adult families. It is frustrating to be blocked from improving my community by people who want to use the building code to enforce structures meant for the 2 adult 2.5 kid nuclear family because that is what they want and they can't envision other people who would want something different.

I wish the building code was used to enforce safety, and not legislate morality.", "timestamp": "1453158870"}, {"author": "Sarah", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/767226918982?comment_id=767402372372", "anchor": "fb-767402372372", "service": "fb", "text": "Aren't tiny houses essentially trailers? So they could make a gentrified trailer park.", "timestamp": "1453225144"}, {"author": "Jeff Kaufman", "source_link": "https://plus.google.com/103013777355236494008", "anchor": "gp-1453388740775", "service": "gp", "text": "@Brian\n\u00a0\"It seems like a developer with an empty lot in an expensive area could house more people by building an apartment building?\"\n
\n
\n* There aren't many empty lots in expensive areas.\n
\n
\n* Setback rules mean you can't generally make your apartment building go all the way to the edge of your property, but you are allowed to put a shed on the edge. \u00a0Since a tiny house is kind of like a shed from a massing perspective, it may be able to use space that would otherwise be vacant.\n
\n
\n\"niche thing for infilling in the suburbs\"\n
\n
\nThere's also a lot of high-demand suburban space.\n
\n
\n\"Building a tiny house instead of getting a trailer seems like a class thing.\"\n
\n
\nYes. \u00a0My hope is that the tiny house people advocating for acceptance also end up making trailers easier.", "timestamp": 1453388740}, {"author": "Jeff Kaufman", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/767226918982?comment_id=785937298232", "anchor": "fb-785937298232", "service": "fb", "text": "\"So I'm hoping Hastings is able to convince the town to pass a bylaw that will allow her house and others.\"

Turns out they weren't able to, and Hadley will not allow these houses: http://www.masslive.com/.../sarah_hastings_tiny_house...", "timestamp": "1462906441"}, {"author": "Alexander", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/767226918982?comment_id=785937298232&reply_comment_id=785939703412", "anchor": "fb-785937298232_785939703412", "service": "fb", "text": "→ :(", "timestamp": "1462907892"}, {"author": "David Chudzicki", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/767226918982?comment_id=785937298232&reply_comment_id=785940407002", "anchor": "fb-785937298232_785940407002", "service": "fb", "text": "→ :(", "timestamp": "1462908344"}, {"author": "David Chudzicki", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/767226918982?comment_id=785937298232&reply_comment_id=785940436942", "anchor": "fb-785937298232_785940436942", "service": "fb", "text": "→ Jeff - state-level rules are the answer!", "timestamp": "1462908374"}, {"author": "Renee", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/767226918982?comment_id=785937298232&reply_comment_id=785941414982", "anchor": "fb-785937298232_785941414982", "service": "fb", "text": "→ well, it's Hadley... but when I looked up regulations in towns all over western Mass for tiny homes, they were illegal almost everywhere. You could usually live in a trailer for 180 days (or another number), max per year. This (and questions of where I could park one) kept me from seriously starting to build a tiny house.", "timestamp": "1462909214"}, {"author": "Dan", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/767226918982?comment_id=785937298232&reply_comment_id=786109243652", "anchor": "fb-785937298232_786109243652", "service": "fb", "text": "→ There's a cool little development--a former methodist church camp--called Laurel Park in Northampton. Houses used to be very affordable, since they were renovated tiny camp cottages. They got grandfathered into zoning laws with the stipulation that any improvement had to maintain the original footprint. Some of them were quite lovely.", "timestamp": "1463008153"}, {"author": "Dan", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/767226918982?comment_id=785937298232&reply_comment_id=786109253632", "anchor": "fb-785937298232_786109253632", "service": "fb", "text": "→ Unfortunately this doesn't do Sarah Hastings any good.", "timestamp": "1463008166"}]}