Garfield's "Tiny House" Experiment a Bust... (Pittsburgh, Spring Hill: rental, coop)

[Paul2421]

Originally Posted by ferraris

Well it sounds like a great deal of the reason they went overbudget was due to zoning variances and marketing costs. I bet costs could get much closer to the original $100K mark if the city zoned for it and if it was built as a development of tiny homes instead of a one-off. Some of the urban prairie blocks in Cal-Kirk might be a good place for a development like that. But really it's probably easier to just go with townhome style units that have private outdoor space for each unit.

I definitely agree with everyone else here that Pittsburgh seems like a poor location for this sort of thing. You can spend half as much and get four times the space in buildings that already exist.

Yeah this type of activism is sort of annoying, trying to be trendy when all it would take is some good old fashioned elbow grease. I get that they are trying to make a difference but I can't imagine this being looked upon favorably in the local community.

[Moby Hick]

Originally Posted by I_Like_Spam

Manufactured homes aren't real big in Pittsburgh as we have plenty of older homes around for the people's needs.

I'm not personally a fan. I just wanted to be complete.

[Goodjules]

Makes no sense to me for Pittsburgh. You can buy a small house for well under $100k or under $50k for that matter, in many neighborhoods here. I understand that it might make sense in more expensive places, but then the cost of the land will be higher. Most of the ones I've seen on TV have been some form of a house trailer as opposed to a tiny house built on a real foundation.

[TechCom]

It should be illegal to bury a demolished house.

[robrobrob]

Originally Posted by eschaton

The way I have heard it explained is (provided it can be built cheap, which it can't here apparently) it's basically buying something with the equivalent space of a modern studio/micro apartment, at a similar price point, but with private outdoor space.

I watch the tiny house shows on tv sometimes. They range in price from 30-75,000 but they are almost always built on a trailer.

[erieguy]

Originally Posted by robrobrob

I watch the tiny house shows on tv sometimes. They range in price from 30-75,000 but they are almost always built on a trailer.

And many travel around with it. Could buy a travel trailer for huge $$$ less than that.

[Geeo]

It was an interesting experiment and I think she learned a lot of good lessons in how difficult it can be. The problem I see is that for the same amount of money, or even half, a lot of existing houses can be made livable again in a lot of neighborhoods.

[ferraris]

Originally Posted by Geeo

It was an interesting experiment and I think she learned a lot of good lessons in how difficult it can be. The problem I see is that for the same amount of money, or even half, a lot of existing houses can be made livable again in a lot of neighborhoods.

Yeah, Pittsburgh has to be one of the worst locations for a tiny house campaign. It only makes sense if you like the tiny house lifestyle...which is hardly distinguishable from the 800 square foot row house lifestyle.

[Geeo]

Yeah, there are a lot of little cottage-style houses in some decent older neighborhoods like South Side Slopes, Troy Hill, North Side, Woods Run, and a lot of other places. Plus a lot of standard row-houses of average size in many areas that could be re-habbed and rented or sold.

[PghYinzer]

I have been scouring city neighborhoods for a tiny row, or even the small cottage type that you sometimes see in Spring Hill for a while now. They are either basically falling down and need a complete to the studs rehab (which is not something I want to take on, but can handle DIY) or they are not very affordable. Granted I want to be somewhat connected to Downtown as that is where I work, and if you are living small you want amenities nearby....these small homes are hard to come by, unless they are complete gut jobs. Perhaps though I am not searching in the correct areas.