$150,000? No thanks.
Build communal housing. Apartments owned by residents. These tiny house suburbs are a horrible waste of space and resources.
this post was submitted on 18 Feb 2024
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The price is ridiculous for what they get. And it's in Texas of all places.
You could find a nice older house in the midwest with land for under 100k.
I would have loved one of these as a young single guy. Far better than a similarly sized studio apartment that doesn't gain me any equity. The real estate market has been pushing people to buy more than they need (and more than they can afford) for years. I assume these are on concrete slabs, but if they had a full basement it would be plenty of space.
People are framing this like its a dystopian nightmare. The fact is that you SHOULD be able to buy a small 2 bedroom something when you're young. It doesnt need to be huge or glamorous.
Our parents could get a whole ass house so an apartment is a small ask
Ths dystopian part is the cost. When I first opened article I was like ok if these are under 50k maybe it makes sense
He paid $145,000
145k in the paradise known as San Antonio Texas....
Unless family is keeping him there I don't understand. Even if family was the reason I'd still expand my search to an hour or 3 away before I bought that.
Just 90 minutes out gets you a nicely built brick house in Beeville with a 2 car attached garage on a corner lot with a fenced in yard so your dog can run around.
For the same price you can get way nicer properties in better states. If you're not willing to move you're making life harder than it needs to be.
I don't think they do but with a basement I could maybe manage but it would be a tight squeeze for a couple.
We have done 399 and it was just fine. Even had a portable washer that we pulled out of the closet every Sunday. People tend to overestimate how much space they really need, probably because their furniture is gigantic.
Such as?
Large couches and coffee tables? If you live in a small place, a couple of chairs with side tables will serve you better.
I kinda echo the comments, just build apartments with really good soundproofing. Give everyone their own little yard and have a nice community garden. Add a restaurant or real bakery to the ground floor. Have a grocery store a block away.
Who needs a yard? Build parks all over the place.
What if I want to garden?
Plenty of ways to do that indoors. Also you might be one of those people who wants to live in the suburbs in spite of all the problems that causes.
I'm OK with smaller houses. They're easier to take care of, cheaper to maintain, and use less utilities.
I'm not sure I could live somewhere smaller than my current apartment.
I want a community based living. Where everyday a few people take on community based chores like cooking for the community. Cleaning up. Etc etc.
Everyone knows everyone's name
Parenting is done community.
Only a few select people actually 'go to work' to earn money. Everyone else just helps out in the community.
Instead of having 100 individual dinners. It's all done in one place. Thus saving fuel and time.
Etc etc.
I'll never live to see anything like that unless I go join some nomads.
Sounds similar to a commune; they exist. Typically everyone works in the commune. The living conditions don't look "great," but I've lived in worse conditions. I think the two biggest ones in the U.S. are Twin Oaks and and East Winds. There are many other types of intentional communities, and there are many around the world: https://icmatch.org/community-types-2/ https://www.ic.org/directory/common-place-land-cooperative/
I think there are a few communities like this still in Belarus (not joking btw, i remember hearing of one built around a tractor company from the Soviet days)
It’s a commune, they exist in the US but are usually restricted entry.
I’ve had a vision for a while of a community of tiny homes that are basically for sleeping and studying/entertaining oneself. There would be a shared cooking/dining area, and a shared shower area similar to Japanese public baths (shower and wash yourself in a stall, soak in a hot tub once you’re clean.)
dorms.
As part of a multi-generational family of 4 adults and a tween I couldn't imagine living in less than 2000 sq. ft. But for a couple I think this would be ok.
We found Mrs. Bucket over here
That’s “bouquet“!!!
At that point you may as well just have an apartment complex with a park. Single family homes for the sake of it at the very edge of praticality. This is the last dieing breath of a failing model of housing
R O W H O U S I N G.
Gardening, owning a workshop, are two hobbies which are pretty much impossible in apartment complexes (as are many other things which are deal-breakers to anyone with enough income to have an opinion on the matter). However to think it's either "apartment complex" or "detached house with five parking spots and a grass monoculture" is a false dichotomy. A terraced house with 3 stories and a basement used to be the standard for the working class where I live, and it is a huge shame they went out of fashion.
Row housing sits halfway between apartment buildings and detached houses, density-wise. Maybe much closer to apartments if you're comparing against low-rises with ample green space.
This is obviously the niche that the trend in the article tries to fill, while failing hard due to zoning laws forbidding terraced housing despite the fact that the exact same lots would immediately double the livable space at almost zero cost (besides a few grand in fireproof and soundproof materials I guess).
Why are they still detached? So much wasted space here.
Nad might aswell build up, 3 stories, shops at the bottom and apartments up top.
Oh wait, thats illegal in most areas of the US.. good ol Freedumb
They are doing this in the US currently. The problem here is that corp America has fucked us all so hard that when buying a house you're not just competing with people more well off than you but companies with bottomless pockets.
so you either live far from where you work or have to live up your neighbors ass in one of these type of buildings whose units aren't any more affordable. Not everyone wants that despite your insistence that AmErIcAn FrEeDuMb is to blame.