Whoa Nelly you guys! Are tiny houses legal in Portand? Not quite, but they will be “allowed” through a creative workaround: the laws about “camping” in tiny houses and RVs on private property will no longer be enforced! Rachel Monahan from Willamette Week has the scoop: “In a sweeping change to Portland housing policy, City…Read more

The heart of small housing is about giving people more options for what to call home.  At PAD, we’ve never cared much to discriminate about “small vs. tiny”, or “on wheels vs. on a foundation.” What we care about is people having access to affordable, sustainable places to live in a way that serves their…Read more

By Billy Ulmer What if tiny houses – and all small housing – were the norm? What if we stopped pretending that anybody is any happier in a big, fancy house than they are in a simple one? What if we admitted that the most important things in life are our relationships and our feelings, and…Read more

Is Portland paving the way for a new generation of tiny house villages for people experiencing homelessness? Tuesday’s City Hall unveiling of the “POD Initiative” designs for “sleeping pods” for houseless people is the best momentum we’ve had in some time. Where the initiate is headed is anybody’s guess, but it’s made some pretty interesting…Read more

By Billy Ulmer Five hundred designers, builders, planners, realtors, students and homeowners gathered in early November to learn how powerful and important it is to build small. The energy in ballroom that morning was electric, and the day was packed with people looking for new ideas for homes that match the needs of our current…Read more

By Billy Ulmer Last week I met with some researchers who were studying the tiny house movement from an academic perspective. They asked me two questions that still stick in my mind a few days later: What’s changed in the last three years of the tiny house movement? What’s going to happen next? I’ve thought…Read more