3/21/2024 0 Comments Little sandra model set![]() A “one-size-fits-all” approach neglects the people who don’t fit into a 400-square-footage box. A tiny home lifestyle doesn’t suit everyone when people have a diverse range of needs - whether that be a disability that requires more space or a need to establish functional boundaries within our homes. In this ongoing pandemic, the common thread of our experiences is the importance of space: to work, to rest, to recreate. It is a result of gentrification unlivable wages food insecurity medical and credit debt criminalization of poverty, homelessness and sex work and cyclical incarceration that capitalizes on people’s vulnerabilities. While a strong support network can help, chronic homelessness isn’t just a result of loss of family. Removing people from their networks, through camp abatements and shelters/programs shuffles, is detrimental to one’s well-being and willingness to trust. ![]() It’s important to acknowledge that there is already a community within this group and to respect the relationships they’ve built. It may just fuel the fear, stress and anxiety that prevents people from seeking already-inaccessible assistance. Rounding up a group of people experiencing homelessness and shoving them elsewhere is not “community building.”Ī shared geography doesn’t always facilitate a community a “village” that operates on surveillance, policing and curfews doesn’t foster meaningful relationships. By literally othering this neighborhood - in its naming convention and physical boundaries - it feeds into people’s biases of what unsheltered people deserve access to, why they should be monitored, and who they’re allowed to be around. Perhaps this “community” is set up as its own to appease people who don’t want to see or interact with unsheltered folks. A neighborhood that lacks access to reliable and consistent public transit, grocery stores and recreational spaces within walking distance won’t improve people’s financial and social opportunities. Immediately, the rendering’s emphasis on car access already excludes those this project claims to support. We need real, robust quality of life and quality of construction of homes for those who lack them. Tiny homes may seem better than tents, but this comparison paves the way for cheap materials and construction. However, they are not an efficient use of land given the increasing need for affordable housing. Taking design cues from the panopticon (and maybe even an alien crop circle), these tiny homes are supposed to provide housing for unsheltered people. This proposed “community” is far removed from the rest of Salt Lake – both physically and communally. A “tiny home village” neither addresses housing insecurity nor sustainably assists unsheltered people – especially as the Salt Lake City Council considers zoning changes that prioritize tiny homes (village) and SROs but not actual affordable housing. Rather, it has been attempted in cities like Los Angeles and Seattle with little success. Salt Lake City’s latest solution to address homelessness isn’t innovative.
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