Think Small: Alderman Wants Chicago To Consider 'Tiny Houses' For City's Homeless

By Stephen Gossett in News on May 24, 2017 10:32PM

A house by the Tumbleweed Tiny House Company / Photo: Tyler LaRiviere

From his opposition to Mayor Harold Washington of yesterday to his rubber-stamp support of Mayor Rahm Emanuel today, we generally don't expect too many progressive concepts to spring forth from Ald. Ed Burke. So color us pleasantly surprised when the seemingly lifelong Ward 14 rep floated the idea of "tiny houses" as one way to help provide shelter for homeless Chicagoans.

Cities like Portland, OR and Berkeley, CA have been experimenting with a similar idea, and the alderman is perhaps unexpectedly looking to those liberal hotbeds as instructive examples. "These cities are testing ‘out-of-the-box' solutions to a chronic problem that all major urban centers face," Burke said in a release. “I see no reason why Chicago should not also think and act innovatively."

Burke is asking other aldermen for public hearings for input on whether the city should pursue its own "tiny house" program—which would see 320-square-feet homes (we said they were tiny) built at at cost of $2,000 each. Pride Action Tank, a local LGBTQIA support organization, is also helping spearhead efforts in Chicago.

The "tiny house" movement, as you've no doubt encountered in trend pieces galore, took off over the last year or two among de-clutter/downsizing types—if only to be slightly edged out in recent times by the peculiar vogue of #VanLife. But there does seem to be unrealized potential yet for the kind of relatively inexpensive, eco-friendly shelter that a "tiny house" could provide, if scaled up. For example, so-called Katrina Cottages eventually gained traction after some initial hesitation as part of the post-hurricane housing efforts in 2005; and early word out of Portland appears positive. Maybe it is time to think small.