Free Republic

San Francisco's well-publicized homelessness crisis is emblematic of the problems facing many of America's big cities as they struggle to provide affordable housing against the backdrop of high interest rates and low inventory. This has led the city to employ a variety of methods to tackle the problem, but a recent plan to provide tiny houses for San Francisco's homeless population has residents furious over the cost. The units would cost a reported $113,000 each to construct. Considering that the average home in San Francisco costs nearly $1 million the $113,000-per-unit cost for the tiny houses seems in line with...

Encampment-overrun Denver is set to break ground on the first of many micro-communities designed to house the homeless - with 1,000 taxpayer-funded homes set to open by the end of the year. The site, located on S. Santa Fe Drive, is one of 11 being propped up by the famously progressive city, which is currently in the midst of an unprecedented homelessness crisis. Worsening matters is the fact the homeless are not exactly roughing it - with tent-laden processions complete with furniture and other amenities now a common sight in the Mile High City. On Monday, the 48-year-old Democrat Mayor...

On a quiet cul de sac in suburban Los Angeles, the installation of Martin Guevara and Grace Kuo's prefab accessory dwelling unit, or ADU, caused quite a stir in the neighborhood. "It was like a block party," said Guevara, 68. "All of our neighbors came out to watch." Guevara was referring to a prefab ADU designed and built by Villa Homes; the 850-square-foot home was craned over the couple's existing home and placed into position in their backyard in the South Bay last year. "It was in two halves," said his daughter Melanie Guevara, 33, who lives in the ADU...

A builder in Colorado owes $6 million to customers who never received their promised tiny homes after he allegedly blew the cash on race cars, real estate and lavish trips, according to new bankruptcy filings. Matthew Sowash, the president and CEO of Holy Ground Tiny Homes, failed to deliver tiny homes to 189 buyers while spending hundreds of thousands on seemingly personal purchases, KDVR reported. The nonprofit company spent more than $400,000 to buy and repair race cars and other vehicles in addition to $35,000 in real estate in Colorado and Alaska, according to an 81-page report filed Friday and...

As the sun began its afternoon fade, Willie Lyons stepped inside his new Conestoga-style hut, pounded a nail into a beam and hung a coat inside the tiny shelter made by volunteers that will protect him from the elements this winter. Lyons, who is deaf, spent much of Saturday methodically moving his belongings from boxes and bags to become the first homeless person to move into a community of what will be 28 tiny huts that nonprofit Occupy Madison is building and placing at the former Wiggie’s Bar property at 1901 Aberg Ave. on the East Side. As Lyons continued...

In her doctoral thesis, Saxton surveyed 80 people who had moved from a full-sized home to a “tiny” home for a year or more. She then calculated their ecological footprints, or how much space they need to sustain their current behavior, including housing, transportation, food, goods and servicesHer research showed that tiny home residents’ average ecological footprint was about 9.5 acres, down from about 17.3 acres for regular-sized homes. In other words, tiny home residents reduced their energy consumption by 45 percent.

LOS ANGELES - A Los Angeles man says he’s found a solution to the city’s housing crisis in the most unlikeliest of places. T.K. Devine wants to help solve L.A.’s homeless problem with portable toilets. “Folks who are living it rough and living on the streets and are trying to make a better life for themselves, they need consistency,” Devine told CBS Los Angeles. “They need a good night’s rest.” The 35-year-old founder of Porta-Home is converting portable toilets into portable homes out of a downtown Los Angeles warehouse, including one built for himself....The system rests on a trailer that...