Could you live in a portable home the size of a parking spot? That simple lifestyle was on display outside Science World on Saturday as tiny home advocates tried to sell their plan for housing affordability across B.C.
A tiny house was built from scratch on site while the public was invited to tour another finished small space.
“They’re actually amazingly spacious,” one woman told Global News.
Another woman said,”It’s addressing something people are kind of longing for, something sort of manageable, small, elegant and more handmade.”
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Minimalist living is not for everyone though with one man telling Global News, “It looks like a storage shed from Canadian Tire.”
The BC Tiny House Collective was founded in 2016 “to ignite a cultural shift towards tiny living across British Columbia.”
A tiny house is defined as a sustainable and mobile housing unit smaller 500 square feet and includes a kitchen, washroom and sleeping area. Some of the small living spaces can be built for under $100,000 but they’re currently illegal in Vancouver, a city where last year nearly 50,000 renters spent more than 30 per cent of their income on housing.
This past March, the city announced it is looking to reset its housing strategy to better address the affordability crunch.
“We need big moves to get the right supply of housing that meets peoples’ needs and incomes…All options are on the table to keep Vancouver liveable, inclusive and affordable now and for many years to come” Mayor Gregor Robertson said.
The BC Tiny House Collective has started an online petition for tiny house pilot projects in the city of Vancouver over the course of only year. It states,”Now is the time for the city to step forward and champion the legalization and legitimization of tiny houses as an affordable, ecologically sustainable, and community-centric housing option for diverse populations.”
Tiny house advocates are researching city bylaws and zoning to see if changes could help legalize small and mobile living spaces.
“I think until the city kind of starts responding and actually giving some alternatives…we’re kind of left to solve the problem,” said Zee Kesler, an artist and educator who runs a mobile classroom in a tiny house.
According to the mayor’s office, the Housing Reset’s emerging directions are going to public consultation and will inform the final housing strategy being reported back to Council in July.
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