Tiny Home Villages: Who Will Host Them?

Imagine if hosting a transitional tiny home village for the homeless became the norm for all suitable vacant land?

2 minute read

November 21, 2017, 5:00 AM PST

By Keli_NHI


Tiny Home

A tiny house made of matchsticks, on display at the Milwaukee Public Museum's European Village exhibit. | Jeff Christiansen / Flickr

Last time I was in Atlanta, I stayed near a spot where dozens, probably hundreds, of homeless people would congregate on the sidewalks in a couple block radius around a center that served their needs. There we many things striking about this, but I remember one of the things that bothered me was the two large empty lots on the corner, which had signs on them expressly forbidding entrance or camping. One still had the foundation of a previous building, so though totally open to the sky, it still would have been a mildly sheltered and slightly more private place to be. Since the lots weren’t fenced off, and yet were empty, while the sidewalks were crowded, I had to assume that those signs were backed up by aggressive enforcement. Yuck.

Some folks in Denver are trying to do a little better. At the Intersections conference last month, the Urban Land Conservancy (ULC) and design group Radian, gave a brief presentation in the Ignite pitch session on the Beloved Community village. Beloved Community is a self-governed tiny home village for those transitioning out of homelessness, especially those not served by the shelter system. People with pets, couples, transgender folks, and people trying to stay sober, for example, can all find themselves either not welcome or not safe in shelters, and are therefore among the priorities for acceptance into the Beloved Community village. Various organizations provide supportive services to the residents, who share the work of maintaining the community.

ULC has some land that they will be building permanently affordable housing on—but that for now is sitting vacant while the predevelopment work happens. ULC director Aaron Miripol said that while ULC’s work aims to reduce the housing crisis over the long term by increasing affordable housing, there is also the very immediate question of what to do for people who are homeless now. As we’ve written about before, tiny home villages are one life-saving answer to that question. But they need somewhere to be.

Monday, November 20, 2017 in Shelterforce/Rooflines

portrait of professional woman

I love the variety of courses, many practical, and all richly illustrated. They have inspired many ideas that I've applied in practice, and in my own teaching. Mary G., Urban Planner

I love the variety of courses, many practical, and all richly illustrated. They have inspired many ideas that I've applied in practice, and in my own teaching.

Mary G., Urban Planner

Cover CM Credits, Earn Certificates, Push Your Career Forward

Aerial view of town of Wailuku in Maui, Hawaii with mountains in background against cloudy sunset sky.

Maui's Vacation Rental Debate Turns Ugly

Verbal attacks, misinformation campaigns and fistfights plague a high-stakes debate to convert thousands of vacation rentals into long-term housing.

July 1, 2025 - Honolulu Civil Beat

Logo for Planetizen Federal Action Tracker with black and white image of U.S. Capitol with water ripple overlay.

Planetizen Federal Action Tracker

A weekly monitor of how Trump’s orders and actions are impacting planners and planning in America.

July 2, 2025 - Diana Ionescu

White and purple sign for Slow Street in San Francisco, California with people crossing crosswalk.

San Francisco Suspends Traffic Calming Amidst Record Deaths

Citing “a challenging fiscal landscape,” the city will cease the program on the heels of 42 traffic deaths, including 24 pedestrians.

July 1, 2025 - KQED

Google street view image of strip mall in suburban Duncanville, Texas.

Adaptive Reuse Will Create Housing in a Suburban Texas Strip Mall

A developer is reimagining a strip mall property as a mixed-use complex with housing and retail.

July 6 - Parking Reform Network

Blue tarps covering tents set up by unhoused people along chain link fence on concrete sidewalk.

Study: Anti-Homelessness Laws Don’t Work

Research shows that punitive measures that criminalized unhoused people don’t help reduce homelessness.

July 6 - Next City

Aerial tram moving along cable in hilly area in Medellin, Colombia.

In U.S., Urban Gondolas Face Uphill Battle

Cities in Latin America and Europe have embraced aerial transitways — AKA gondolas — as sustainable, convenient urban transport, especially in tricky geographies. American cities have yet to catch up.

July 6 - InTransition Magazine