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As some of you know we would like to live in a tiny home my wife has been leaning towards a Airstream & while I like them I feel that even their biggest model which is a 34Ft might be a bit small. I'm sure you could put up a building to use for multiple uses. Mudroom, storage washer, dryer, all in one shed. It would give us a place to put hiking gear, a place to swap out clothes out for the seasons.
With that said it does seem that this is next to impossible. Even building a tiny home there are so many restrictions these days. Looking though an RV forum I asked about living in an Airstream legally on your own land dealing with codes & taxes & this was one reply.
(Some places have codes stating that you can't live in a trailer that is less than 50 feet. They don't want people living in RVs. Some places now require passing codes for a Certificate of Occupancy.
Think if you worked hard to buy a nice home and worked hard to fix it up, only to have a beat up RV move in next to you, foul the area by dumping raw sewage, and diminishing your properties value.
Another concern is schools. It cost about $20 K a year to educate a child. Some property owners even complain about Condos, that pay way less in property taxes, but their kids cost the same to educate.)
In does seem that these codes & taxes benefit those who have or have built a 200K house more then someone who doesn't want/need in such a house. In a country where we're supposed to be free in seems that we're only free IF you able to afford it.
Granted this is more of a rant then anything else. Would like to hear from those who have or are experienced this themselves.
Yep. One of my pet peeves is that these elitist college professors and media sources are pushing this Tiny Home Utopia Dream. In the real world, tiny homes and rvs are an extremely expensive way to live. Many people and youth do not realize that many rv parks are going away from year round living, have high monthly fees, have high daily fees, etc. To put a tiny home on a piece of land there is the cost of the land, zoning regulations, cost for installing utilities, taxes, etc.
Building ANY size home is an expensive way to go. The cheaper version would to buy a small old home with good bones. There are plenty in the Northern cities and towns. It bothers me to no end that high schools and universities aren't educating the youth on housing and the basic costs of living in the real world.
Last edited by bluecarebear; 07-09-2016 at 08:25 AM..
Yep. One of my pet peeves is that these elitist college professors and media sources are pushing this Tiny Home Utopia Dream. In the real world, tiny homes and rvs are an extremely expensive way to live. Many people and youth do not realize that many rv parks are going away from year round living, have high monthly fees, have high daily fees, etc. To put a tiny home on a piece of land there is the cost of the land, zoning regulations, cost for installing utilities, taxes, etc.
Building ANY size home is an expensive way to go. The cheaper version would to buy a small old home with good bones. There are plenty in the Northern cities and towns. It bothers me to no end that high schools and universities aren't educating the youth on housing and the basic costs of living in the real world.
We've found a way to do it cheaply but sadly the zoning laws want you to build a much costly house then what is needed by us.
Have you ever wandered the back roads in rural areas without zoning or building codes? If you have, especially in the Deep South or Appalachia but even in the Northeast and Midwest, you ought to understand why zoning regs and building codes are the norm, even in rural areas. Do these codes "favor" people who are more affluent? Yes, they do, but that's not necessarily bad IMO. The purpose is to prevent the proliferation of rural blight where people live in unsanitary and/or unsafe conditions. Many rural areas already have too many rotting barns, abandoned farm dumps, decrepit old house trailers left over from the pre-zoning days, and ramshackle old houses. They don't need city folks moving in and wanting to live full time in campers.
RVs and campers are not houses and are not intended to be full time homes on a piece of land. Full time RVers travel in/with their RVs. If you don't want to haul your camper around, put it in a campground. Setting it up on your own land doesn't make it suitable for a full time residence. It could serve as a seasonal or week-end camp but it sure better have running water and approved septic.
Since this thread is in the "Green Living" forum, I would like to know what you think is so "green" about living in an RV/camper as opposed to building a small home or, better yet, finding an existing small house and rehabbing it? RVs are not nearly as well insulated as regular homes can be nor do they necessarily have efficient heating or cooling systems because the emphasis is on saving space and not energy. Have you considered the amount of resources that go into building an RV, particularly how much plastic, glue, and other toxic-to-make and/or impossible-to-recycle products go into building an RV? Weight is a major concern in any RV, and plastic is lighter than wood or metal. Are you just in love with the concept of "tiny homes" because of those BS shows on HGTV?
If you want to live in a "tiny house" and be green, too, then look into building a small house or rehabbing an existing small home. Consider building a straw bale home or using some other innovative construction materials/style. Orient the home on your lot so that you can make passive solar an integral part of the design. Install high efficiency heating and cooling systems and Energy Star appliances. Install solar panels or maybe a wind turbine to provide for all/some of your power needs.
I started with a mobile home on its own land in a place that zoning forget, which I paid cash for -- it was $12,000. Yeah, that's harder to do today. Now, they have zoning and several of those original trailers left. I admit that the area looks a little better, and there have been fewer fires and other problems.
OP, I understand! The real problem is that the powers that be have done away with affordable housing. Sometimes that's done to preserve property values in an area and sometimes there are more political reasons for it.
The tiny house movement will catch on here in the US. The population is aging and there is a demand for small, private spaces. These folks will get on the zoning boards and change the codes in many areas. I expect it to become more widespread on the West Coast where the climate is less harsh.
It's just not happening on a wide-spread basis, yet.
In the meantime, the best we can do is research areas online and then go there in person. Maybe hold some of those elected offices and change the rules more to our liking. Or pay someone off (LOL!)
In the meantime, I still believe that where there's a will, there is a way. How many folks with a little land have some vehicles "stored" back in the woods that are actually a home? If you fence it and keep OPSEC (mouth shut) it's still possible in some places to live on a shoe string without attracting attention.
Or call it "Green living" and apply for some sort of grant.
I remember when these guys were the Dancing Rabbit Commune, and some wanted those "hippies gone." Now, they are the Dancing Rabbit Ecovillage and bringing in money to the area:
An Airstream would, imho, be one of the worst picks you could make. I suspect your wife (and/or you) think they're cute. I'll give you that, and they're not bad campers if you need to pull one around the country. (You just FEEL much more cramped in them than in most RVs because of the rounded shape and lack of slide outs.)
If you're really set on an RV because you plan to travel with it, just look a little harder at other brands. Consider 5th wheel campers and eliminate 95% of the cheapest ones, because no RV has good insulation, but a very few do have insulation that would rival homes built 70 years ago, dual pane windows, heated water tanks (fresh/grey/black), etc. The rest are best for vacations and weekend camping. Slide outs, while probably not as well sealed and insulated, eliminate most of the feeling that you're living in a refrigerator box.
But if you want this to park in one spot, please forget the RV. The stove and refrigerator are made for campers, not for homes. Their cost is much higher, and their expected life is shorter. Same with the A.C. The toilet doesn't work like one in a house (no built-in trap), and the grey and black holding tanks will need to be dumped every day or two. (Leaving the black tank open to drain will result in heaps of mess -- literally! Leaving any tank to drain in a cold climate will result in frozen drain lines.) They simply are not built to be permanent homes. They cost much more but won't last nearly as long as a stick-built home. Or a mobile home, for that matter. A small mobile home would be far superior.
I would NOT consider any of them good for "Green Living". If that's your goal, build a smaller stick-built home designed for low energy needs.
I think the eco-friendly condo livin is coming- minimal private living homes with larger common ground "recreation" and eco-plumbing
but this has to be affordable ...
my neighbor a green fruitloop - before he died, had plans to build an eco-park with this in mind - the park next to a stream
out in the woods
High density housing like condos can be far more green because they make public transposition and walk-to living possible. The problem is that the way public schools work in the United States, the towns stuffed full of professional people in expensive homes will do anything to keep lower income people out of their gold-plated school system. People in the United States self-segregate along socioeconomic lines. About 1/3 of the country earns more than twice the median household income/$100K. Those places are going to fight any type of small, low income housing and they have the money to buy the outcome.
I don't see this changing at any time in the foreseeable future.
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