Tiny house communities as a solution for homelessness initially seemed to me as another fad gone bad.
Those miniature houses aren’t as cheap as most think, and there are zoning issues and exorbitant transportation costs (if they’re portable). And a village of 20 or so tiny homes here and there around the country would seem an imperceptible solution to the staggering number of homeless people — more than a half-million people in the United States, including more than 10,000 in Colorado.
My ideas about tiny houses were shaped largely by HGTV shows and ads for cute vacation spots, as well as stories of those who struggled to find permanent — and inexpensive — parking spots for their homes.
Tiny homes have evolved into a luxury version of a mobile home even if the trend was driven by minimalists and skyrocketing housing costs.
So, as a public hearing on proposed zoning code changes regarding temporary tiny home villages looms before the Denver Planning Board, I dug into the subject. If approved, the changes could open the door to the creation of villages in commercial, mixed-use and industrial areas or where there is an existing public or civic use.
First, let’s deal with the semantics. The Beloved Community Village, the first and only village so far, started with 11 “sleeping units,” two portable toilets, a bathhouse and a common building. This is not a community of 11 tiny houses or cottages. It is a communal living arrangement where the residents get a 12-foot by 8-foot standalone room with electricity and heat to themselves.
Go measure your own bedroom or storage shed — or if you live in a McMansion your walk-in closet — and you’ll get an idea of the space.
The units were rearranged on the property at 38th and Blake streets once and in April the village was approved for a move to 4400 N. Pearl St. in Globeville, where it will have 20 sleeping units and communal facilities with plumbed bathrooms and a full kitchen. It had to move as the property it was on was being redeveloped and the permit was temporary.
It’s still temporary. The property lease is for a year, with an option for three more.
Of course, it’s not meant to be long-term housing, but rather to help people transition from living on the streets or in parks to an apartment or other housing. Still, it costs money to move those sleeping units and to build communal facilities, even if they are projected to be part of some other community amenity in the future.
Early results of the village experiment are positive — several people have moved into more permanent housing, most are working and residents say having their own safe place has helped them get back on track. (Two residents were kicked out for rules violations.)
The villages are aimed particularly at those who struggle to find other temporary shelters, such as couples, those who have pets or are part of the LGBTQ community.
The nonprofit Colorado Village Collaborative wants villages throughout the metro area and had hoped to have a women’s village running, but it’s proposed location on the grounds of St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church was rejected by the city’s Landmark Preservation Commission because it didn’t fit the historical nature of the neighborhood.
Even if Denver approves the proposed code changes, as it should, the villages would be temporary, permitted for up to four years. A permit would allow up to 30 units, with a minimum of 70 square feet per sleeping unit.
There are similar housing communities in Madison, Wisconsin, Portland, Oregon and Seattle, among other places. There’s been little study of them, including cost/benefit, impact on homelessness and neighborhoods and other issues. Advocates for the homeless like them.
I remain skeptical but adding communal villages to the arsenal of ideas to get homeless people off the streets is worth a try as long as costs associated with the temporariness of the solution are closely monitored. It’s a small step up from a tent city or dormitory-style shelter (more secure and private) but should clearly be a short-term transitional use.
And we should not pretend that it will have much — if any — impact on the critical shortage of decent affordable housing. You know, the kind of places these folks should be able to move into as they transition out of homelessness.
Sue McMillin is a long-time Colorado reporter and editor who worked for The Gazette and Durango Herald. Now a freelance, she lives in Cañon City.
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