Tiny house movement
The Tiny house movement is a non-movement towards smaller homes and simpler lifestyles. It began in earnest in the 1990's, but has accelerated in the [current financial climate]. During the prolonged peacetime economic gains following the presidency of Ronald Reagan Us home sizes increased, and this trend was accelerated during the Housing bubble that relied on the low interest rates seen during the Bush administration response to the Clinton era Dot Com bubble. With larger houses consumer spending went up and more durable and non-durable goods were purchased to fill these houses. This created a spiral of materialism and consumer debt that contributed to the financial collapse realized fully under the policies of the Obama administration.[1]
What is a tiny house
A tiny house is typically referred to as any house under 500 Square feet for a couple or family and under 300 square feet for an individual. Tiny houses can be built in virtually any means of construction although a higher portion of them are built using "alternative" means. A tiny house is not a trailer home. While a tiny house can be put on wheels the fit and finish of a tiny house is of a higher quality. The two are different in much the same way that a sailing yacht and a sail boat are different.
Advantages
Tiny homes are primarily affordable, less lumber, less labor, and less stuff to fill it.[2] In addition to affordability up front a tiny house requires less fuel to heat, which contributes to individual and national energy independence. A tiny home encourages people to spend less time in the house, and when in the house to spend more time interacting with each other, it eliminates the practice of escaping to ones bedroom or study or TV den. A tiny house takes less upkeep, less time dusting and painting and cleaning and more time on other pursuits.
Disadvantages
A tiny house is small, and this discourages many types of home based business, as well as large gatherings. A tiny house is more vulnerable to the forces of nature, a tornado or hurricane or forest fire can more easily damage it. A tiny house can be harder to finance, banks have not moved with the trend. A tiny house may violate local zoning laws, many areas have minimum home sizes, sometimes as large as 1000 Square feet. Some tiny homes are as small as 86 square feet. Many people consider a large home to be a sign of success, inhabiting a tiny home may not show off the peacock feathers as well as a large home.
