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

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