We've been here before

When I learned about tiny houses, I thought the concept was great! The idea would be to make a small house out of nice materials rather than a larger house out of not-so-nice materials. The small size would keep initial costs quite low even when high quality materials such as metal roofing were used. The houses would offer privacy, low cost upkeep and small land tax due to their size. Older single people might enjoy this since it would offer something close to carefree living.

However, people do get lonely. So, the next step might be to put these houses into little clusters. Perhaps a few tiny house owners could pool resources for grounds upkeep. The upkeep might start out just for lawn mowing. The program would likely expand to pathways, then parking lots and perhaps a central community building or two. Perhaps "blue boy" systems and composting toilets would be replaced with real water and sewer service hookups. Eventually, community resources might be pooled for roof repairs and painting of privately owned houses too. It would then be only a small leap to solar powered energy systems and community gardens. Once the list of possible shared systems expanded to shared tennis, pool and golf course access, I realized something.

I just re-invented the concept of the condo.

However, unlike a condominium, tiny houses can usually be moved to different locations. In fact, many tiny houses are by nature movable since they are frequently built directly on trailer frames. Due to this, they can have the ability to change their locations very quickly. Another indirect benefit of being on a registered vehicle trailer is that construction is regulated by the DOT rather than building code enforcement and homeowner associations. Still, these agencies sometimes have bans on RVs for extended stays and these probably could be extended to trailer mounted tiny houses.

Assuming tiny houses are legal to park in an area, I imagine a tiny house cluster model would more likely resemble a seasonal camp ground. In the image on the right, just take out the RVs and put in tiny houses. Unlike RVs, tiny houses would likely have enough insulation to be able to be occupied during the winter months. They might even have electric and water/sewer hookups. So, they might become semi-permanent structures. Depending on who is beholding it, such a community would either be a beautiful living arrangement or an eye sore.  Doh!  I just described a higher end trailer park.

As they say, history never repeats. However, at times it sure does echo!