Tiny Home Village Approved for Homeless in San Jose

Now San Jose's tiny home village pilot project, meant to create 40 units of "sleeping cabins for homeless individuals, needs to find a neighborhood to call home.

1 minute read

December 14, 2017, 8:00 AM PST

By James Brasuell @CasualBrasuell


Homeless Bike

Richard Masoner / Cyclelicious / Flickr

"A plan to build 'tiny homes' for San Jose’s homeless residents passed its first major test Tuesday, and now the city must answer the most difficult question — where to put these micro sleeping cabins," reports Ramona Giwargis.

So far, the city has approved a yearlong pilot program that will construct a village of 40 tiny homes. "Elected leaders by next month will come up with three potential sites for the tiny homes and eventually want to place a tiny home village in each of the city’s 10 City Council districts," explains Giwargis of that remaining, significant detail of the program.

The article includes details of the "not in my backyard" voices that gathered at the City Council hearing earlier this week to oppose the program.

The city hired architecture firm Gensler to design two prototype versions of the tiny home concept, as reported by Giwargis earlier this month. Giwargis has been tracking the project as it navigated the political system. Back in August, the city paired down the list of potential sites for a tiny home village. Giwargis included the tiny home idea in an article detailing the city's response to homelessness in June 2017.

Tuesday, December 12, 2017 in The Mercury News

Young Professional

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 and Environmental 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 and Environmental Planner

Get top-rated, practical training for planners

Overlapping highways

The state-sanctioned urbicide of Austin

People don’t kill cities. Freeways do.

September 8, 2026 - Benjamin Schneider

The Hoover Dam blocking the Colorado River. The river's water level is noticeably low. The cliffs surrounding the blue water are brown and jagged.

US to reduce Colorado River water deliveries to Mexico

A new Colorado Treaty amendment reduces Mexico’s Colorado River water allocation by 250,000 acre feet.

September 11, 2026 - The Arizona Republic

Skyscrapers in Jersey City.

New Jersey’s second-largest city bans standalone data centers

Jersey City will continue to allow co-location facilities, such as those meant for research institutions that store their own data.

September 4, 2026 - The Cool Down

A New Jersey train approaches people waiting at the station.

Amtrak not solely to blame for New Jersey commuter rail's unreliability, report finds

A new study from the Garden State Initiative found that NJ Transit’s budget grew 20% across a 4 year period, but reliability declined significantly over the same period.

September 15 - Mass Transit

A tall, gray power plant billows smoke into a blue sky.

EPA erases limits on planet-warming pollution from power plants

Under Monday’s plan, power plants would still have some limits on how much mercury, arsenic and other contaminants they can emit.

September 15 - New York Times

A white RAPID bus. The lower half is light blue, and says RAPID in purple text. The bus is half visible, appearing from the left side of the image.

Phoenix announces new on-demand transit service, more frequent RAPID buses

Both new services will launch in October, and are part of Phoenix's Project Effective Access Solutions for Easing Congestion.

September 15 - KJZZ

FREE Course: Walkable City 1: Why Walkability?

After describing his path towards focusing on walkability as the essence of good planning, Jeff Speck marches through his five principal reasons for making more walkable places.

Reinventing Malls: Planning Alchemy—Turning Gray Fields Into Gold

The course focuses on the opportunities and imperatives that shape reinvention of mall sites.