<Better Place - Bringing Electric Vehicles Powered by Renewable Energy The Oil Drum DrumBeat: November 5, 2008>

246 comments on A Resilient Suburbia? 1: Sunk Cost & Credit Markets

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Jason Bradford on November 4, 2008 - 1:16pm Permalink | Subthread | Parent | Comments top

Today I saw a guy living out of his pick up truck. It has a cab roof and he parks it outside of the mini-storage unit he rents. So, for ca. $80 per month he can plug his truck into an exterior power outlet, keep his personal belongings sheltered next to him, stay warm and dry, and move on if he must.

Another version of teeny house, but on wheels.

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BruceMcF on November 4, 2008 - 1:53pm Permalink | Subthread | Parent | Comments top

Many of the tiny houses are on wheels ... and many can be parked in a standard parking space.

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BruceMcF on November 4, 2008 - 9:32pm Permalink | Subthread | Parent | Comments top

Really, the smallest of these actually can be parked in a standard parking place.

The smallest of the Tiny Houses obviously are not for everyone, but they are the right size for some people. And of course, that is an important part of a material/energy efficiency revolution ... rather than one-size-fits-all solutions, which always means material and energy use in excess to the needs of most users, solutions tailored to people's needs. For those who wish it, a very small living space can be extraordinarily frugal in terms of ongoing utility costs.

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tomswift on November 5, 2008 - 3:00am Permalink | Subthread | Parent | Comments top

You had better look out. Some places like in Santa Cruz, California our county government lives off of the taxes of home owners. Living in a trailer is not allowed except in a registered mobile home park for which they tax several thousand dollars per year. For the house we are now negotiating to build, (1800 sq. ft, 167 m^3) we will be paying about $67,000 for government fees, permits, tests, and “mitigations”. If we reduced the house to 100 sq. ft, not allowed by county ordinances, our costs would only be reduced to about $45,000. Add to this a tax of $8000 per year on the new property value. My problem is socialism more than energy. My lifestyle, Honda Insight, solar electricity, carpool, etc cost very little. My government however is a economic hog.

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elwoodelmore on November 5, 2008 - 9:12am Permalink | Subthread | Parent | Comments top

"...we will be paying about $67,000 for government fees, permits, tests, and “mitigations”."

something tells me that this is not the entire story, are you building on a toxic dump site, in the middle of a fire prone forrest, in an earthquake or flood zone ?

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sf on November 5, 2008 - 10:49am Permalink | Subthread | Parent | Comments top

In Mt. Shasta, Ca. it is $12,000-$15,000, which is not bad for a large house, but a deal breaker for a very small house. The town has some huge expenses in improving the sewer and storm drain systems.
In California, it is virtually impossible to raise property taxes, so new construction fees have to go up astronomically to pay for new infrastructure needs.

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Will Stewart on November 5, 2008 - 10:12am Permalink | Subthread | Parent | Comments top

Why build when there are so many foreclosed houses on the market??

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Kiashu on November 5, 2008 - 10:23am Permalink | Subthread | Parent | Comments top

As I understand it, many of those foreclosed houses are not in very good nick.

Probably cheaper to build a new one, especially if you wanted to fit it with its own power generation, water source and sewage disposal, insulation and the like.

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Will Stewart on November 5, 2008 - 1:35pm Permalink | Subthread | Parent | Comments top

Tom, are you shooting for a LEED gold/platinum house (or the equivalent)? Super-insulated passive solar with PV, solar hot water, etc?

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BruceMcF on November 7, 2008 - 10:48am Permalink | Subthread | Parent | Comments top

Definitely if you were going to buy that one, even if it went for a song, you'd need someplace to live while fixing it up ("fixing it up" possibly involving starting at the foundation). A Tiny House would do the trick there ... and in that situation, it seems highly unlikely that any local authority faced with that problem would object to someove parking a Tiny House in the yard while they were doing the fixer upper.

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Debbie Cook on November 5, 2008 - 11:26am Permalink | Subthread | Parent | Comments top

Your lifestyle requires roads, sewers, water, communications, hospitals, schools, public safety, to name a few. Have you priced those "socialized" services lately?

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BruceMcF on November 7, 2008 - 10:45am Permalink | Subthread | Parent | Comments top

Yes, under the "taxpayer revolt" plan in California to starve governments at all levels of funds to provide public services, because failing to provide public services is for some reason supposed to be a good thing, there are obviously going to be governments trying to gain revenue any way they can, and under the housing bubble years, getting it out of new home construction is one recourse.

It may well be that entire states will have and cling to institutional impediments to establishing more resilient suburbs. If they do, they do so at their own economic peril.

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CrystalRadio on November 5, 2008 - 12:30am Permalink | Subthread | Parent | Comments top

Steinbeck wept!

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246 comments on A Resilient Suburbia? 1: Sunk Cost & Credit Markets

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