Congratulations to Heibrie Barron, our 2nd 4-Day Pass WINNER to the Tiny Home Show & Conference, August 4-7 at the Ancaster Fairgrounds.
This is shaping up to be a great show, and we look forward to meeting everyone at the show. Stop by and say hello at Booth 30. There will be model tiny homes on display, product providers, and seminars about tiny homes and tiny home living. Check out the demonstration tiny home framing build during the show.
Can’t wait, see you there!
Remember there are still 2-tickets to be won, so spread the word, get your entries in, or buy tickets online.
I have been meeting and talking to a number of cities about partnering with us to build our Pocket Community Demonstration Project. I have put together a video that covers the important information from these talks, answers a number of common questions and explains some of our reasoning behind the Pocket Community/Tiny Town model.
We have a couple of cities, with groups that are enthusiastic about being the 1st site, but until a solid commitment is made, the demonstration site’s location is still available. Share this post and video with anyone you feel can help get the site built in your city. Remember, there will only be 1-first site, and that city will be recognized as the one where this all began.
The new year always seems to provide an opportunity to review one’s plans in a new light. Maybe it’s the weather with winter taking away the distractions of many outdoor activities, or simply the realization that another year has gone, that I find I’m looking at what I want to do from a perspective of what I have done. I continue to tweak my plans to include new insights because I know I will never get it wrong and I will never get it done. I am on the journey of life.
Mid 2018, the Association had prepared a proposal for the National Housing Strategy (NHS) Demonstration Initiative managed by CMHC to promote tiny homes as an affordable housing option. We wanted to bring a tiny home to select northern Ontario cities to give people an opportunity to tour one first hand and decide if they made sense as a housing option.
Our funding proposal was aimed to demonstrate that tiny homes can meet the needs of many of the NHS target groups, at a fraction of the cost of any other form of housing. We had contacted each city government, and all were eagerly looking forward to our arrival. Unfortunately, our proposal was not funded so we had to cancel the tour to the disappointment of the city mayors and staff.
We eagerly look forward to what other innovative Demonstration Initiatives were funded instead of ours. While we would like to imagine the funding went to something even more progressive that would address affordable housing and homelessness on a larger scale, we have our doubts. We expect that other traditional methods will continue to be funded, even though they have proven to be ineffective in the past.
The Tiny Town Association believes that new forms of housing are needed to help singles, couples and single-parent families afford a home of their own and tiny homes fit this need better than any other type of housing. Join the Association and help us make a place for tiny homes.
It’s an asset that ties you down, limits when and where you can go, plus it’s a huge expense. In addition to purchasing the land, you will also need electricity, water, sewer, internet, and gas. These utilities require a further investment, they will need to be maintained and they add to the things that tie you to your land. At some time in the future, you may want to move. What then? Do you sell your tiny home with the land the way traditional homes are sold or do you try and sell the land alone? Either way, moving has now become a chore.
Tiny Towns will be owned by the not-for-profit Association so that revenues can be re-invested in the development and maintenance of the towns. Rents are planned to be kept low by using renewable resources to provide the utilities for its citizens. Citizens are free to move within the town and between towns by simply booking their new location online. All sites will provide complete hookups (included in the monthly rent) so it’s just plug-n-go to connect to your site. Services provided will include water, sewer, electricity, gas, TV, internet (fiber optic connection to each tiny home). We have designed our towns with 12 tiny homes to the acre, which we call a Pod (like a mini-neighborhood). Each site has a concrete pad with tie-downs to park on, lots of green space, a central common area and gardens for the residents of each Pod. Common areas are community maintained and socializing will be available for those that want to participate.
Tiny Towns complete the concept of tiny homes as an affordable housing option by removing the biggest upfront costs, the land purchase and utility installation. Looking forward, they will enable a tiny home’s mobility through plug-n-go and provide a network with access to all major cities. We believe that while tiny homes will expand our housing options, they also have the potential to expand other areas of our lives.
