advocacy, activism, R&D on housing alternatives: co-op, tiny, cluster, movable, modular, self-build, etc. Director @tmccormick
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ALT "Oregon governor signs new $200 million homeless spending package By Adrian Thomas and FOX 12 Staff Mar. 29, 2023 SALEM Ore. (KPTV) - OR Governor Tina Kotek on Wednesday is signing a new homeless and affordable housing spending bill into law. The package, consisting of HB 2001 and HB 5019, known as the Affordable Housing & Emergency Homelessness Response Package, is a bipartisan $200M that’s intended to speed up construction of affordable housing in Oregon. Last week Gov. Tina Kotek said that funding in this massive new spending package can only be applied to outdoor shelter sites if they have more permanent structures and not tents. Cascadia Clusters is a local nonprofit building tiny home villages @ sleeping pods across Portland. The team says building a single pod on a platform that could fit in one of the sanctioned sites would cost under $5k & take about three days to build. Director & founder Andy Olshin says governor’s funding is a huge plus, but should have flexibility.
ALT "Olshin has worked in homeless and housing services for much of his career. He says shouldfunding be made available, new sites offering alternative shelter in Portland should be allowed to evolve into sites with more permanent structures. “Tents on top of secure platforms can be a workable option, especially if there is some kind of overhang,” he said. “If you’re really transitioning folks from the street it’s a continuum of options that we need to provide.” Olshin says Cascadia Clusters has discussed with the city about being involved in building platforms in the campsites being rolled out this year. Olshin stresses Cascadia Cluster’s approach has been effective, employing people like Bob Reimmer who once experienced homelessness, to help build alternative housing sites from the ground up. Reimmer showed a FOX 12 crew one of the pods being built in NE Portland that is designed to cover a tent from harsh weather, but he says with the right funding, it could be more than that
ALT Tim McCormick: on mastodon @[email protected] @tmccormick Replying to @shanedkavanaugh vs 'pods', we could be locally building better quality & much more durable, building-code compliant, small housing, at not much more cost; hiring former unhoused for construction. I know this from currently helping build & living in them—who wants to come see & share this angle? Tweet: " Shane D. Kavanaugh @shanedkavanaugh · 1h "Akin to a pared-down tiny home, sleeping pods provide privacy, come equipped w/ electricity, a built-in bed and other modest amenities such as heat and storage space. They are used at several outdoor shelters and villages throughout Portland but can cost more than $10,000 each." Quote Tweet Shane D. Kavanaugh @shanedkavanaugh ALT photo of tiny house being built in Portland, using conventional wood construction, with work-training program participants. ALT Quote Tweet Shane Dixon Kavanaugh @shanedkavanaugh · Mar 23 "Akin to a pared-down tiny home, sleeping
ALT Screenshot of YouTube stream from budget hearing
ALT Speaking notes for my testimony. "Good evening chair Vega Pederson, and commissioners. My name is Tim McCormick, I am the director of Housing Alternatives Network, a Portland-based non-profit that supports projects to help house those most in need, such as lowest-income households, refugees, disaster displacees, and people experiencing homelessness. This network, and my work, has grown out of my own experience for the last decade of living in, researching, and advocating for those without formal or stable housing. I would like to speak directly to what is by almost every account the number one issue facing the county and the state: the tragic, acute, and chronic crisis of homelessness. And particularly, what the County can do, both it is budget allocation for the next year, & in guiding the use of the $200 Million in emergency funding on this issue that was recently passed by the legislature at Governor Kotek's bequest. My understanding is that the core new direction for...."
ALT Modular Homes as a New Form of Accommodation to Tackle Homelessness: A Case Study From Cambridge, England Richmond Juvenile Ehwi1,5 · Kwadwo Oti-Sarpong2 · Gemma Burgess1 · Johannes Lenhard3 · Eana Meng4 Accepted: 27 March 2023 © The Author(s) 2023 Abstract In England, provision of temporary accommodation for people experiencing homelessness has often entailed using tradi- tional construction approaches to deliver housing. However, recent experiments are using modular homes to provide tem- porary accommodation, accompanied by support services for people experiencing homelessness. Given the early nature of these trials, it is unclear what impacts these modular homes have on their occupants and how these projects in turn impact surrounding residents and businesses. We present a case study of the first modular homes for people experiencing homelessness in Cambridge, England, drawing on longitudinal interviews with the six residents occupying these homes. ...
ALT Conclusion Our findings document how homelessness is being tackled through a novel approach that involves the use of self-con- tained modular homes and wrap-around support services in the city of Cambridge. Based on longitudinal interviews with residents, we found that residents experienced positive outcomes across a variety of dimensions: improvements in drug, alcohol, and money management skills, readiness for employment and skills development, improved social relations, a burgeoning sense of community, and a sense of personal safety and security. ...
!["The project comprises six self-contained units, each measuring 25 sq metres. The units were produced using modular construction techniques, which entails the design, production, and assembly of com- ponents of construction projects in a factory before they are installed on site The ‘meanwhile site’ leased for the project is owned by a church in Cambridge that has no immediate use for the land but has long term plans for its redevelopment. Accordingly, planning permission for the project was granted for three years from [[Fig. 1 Interior view of the modular homes with white goods. (Source: Authors’ site visit (June 2020)) Fig. 2 Exterior view of the modular homes showing frontage, letter- boxes, communal garden and bicycle storage]] mid-Oct 2019, on the condition that the project would be a transitional phase to help tackle homelessness in the city. However, the units could be moved to a new site when the planning permission expires and the church is ready to redevelop the land.](https://pbs.twimg.com/media/Fth3UHjWYAAOhyx.jpg?name=orig)
ALT "The project comprises six self-contained units, each measuring 25 sq metres. The units were produced using modular construction techniques, which entails the design, production, and assembly of com- ponents of construction projects in a factory before they are installed on site The ‘meanwhile site’ leased for the project is owned by a church in Cambridge that has no immediate use for the land but has long term plans for its redevelopment. Accordingly, planning permission for the project was granted for three years from [[Fig. 1 Interior view of the modular homes with white goods. (Source: Authors’ site visit (June 2020)) Fig. 2 Exterior view of the modular homes showing frontage, letter- boxes, communal garden and bicycle storage]] mid-Oct 2019, on the condition that the project would be a transitional phase to help tackle homelessness in the city. However, the units could be moved to a new site when the planning permission expires and the church is ready to redevelop the land.
ALT Cover page: "New Starter Homes highly affordable, ownable, 'starter,' smart, tiny houses in Portland - for backyard cottages, villages, or cottage clusters. Last updated: 2 September, 2022. Document started: August 2018. by Tim McCormick, with Housing Alternatives Network, Portland, Oregon. [email protected], +1.503.334.1894 including contributions from: Andrew Heben - Program Director, SquareOne Villages, Eugene, OR Mark Lakeman - Founder, Communitecture, City Repair Project; Village Coalition, Portland John McCormick, AIA, AICP (Emeritus) - retired architect & planner, Portland"
ALT Table of contents Overview 3 Background: From Levittown to LevitateTown 5 Whom do we aim to help? 7 Fitting a range of site/zoning contexts: 7 Mobile housing 7 Detached Accessory Dwelling Units 7 Cottage Clusters, village models 8 Emergency, farmworker housing 8 Program strategies toolkit: 8 Strategy 1: Ensure affordability by covenant 8 Strategy 2: Use small, and self-buildable and prefabbable units 9 Strategy 3: Use movable and anchorable units 11 Strategy 4: Make homes usable across a variety of site, zoning, & tenure situations 13 Strategy 5: Allow options to site-build, trailer in, or crane in 13 Strategy 6: Use standardized, post foundations, independent of unit design 13 Strategy 7: Offer rentable, ownable, or rent-to-own homes 15 Strategy 8: create a network of sites and participants 15 Strategy 9: facilitate incremental building and expansion, by modular design 15 "PAD Initiative" design challenge 16 Sustainability, resiliency, off disaster, climate-change, off-grid adaptation
ALT Strategy 6: Use standardized, post foundations, independent of unit design A key factor in Levitt Brother's success, as with other mass post-war builders like Joseph Eichler and Henry Doelger in the Bay Area, was a highly efficient, "mass production" system using economy of scale in supplies and methods. For example, Levitt houses used mobile, specialized teams that did one part of the process and quickly moved from site to site. We are proposing a similar strategy for foundations: to design a low-cost, standardized foundation system which could be put in on many sites by specialized teams/contractors, in advance or and independent of the units put onto them. We hypothesize (pending further study and development of OR Tiny House Code) that this could be done with foundation posts, rather than a full foundation slab, which is both cost-effective and flexible in terms of handling different site conditions/slopes.
![Left: Illustrations and floor plans for distinct units to accommodate different types of inhabitants. From “Langsstructuur Ommoord: presentatie bij Wonen’ tentoonstelling in het Evoluon” (“Longitudinal structure Ommoord: presentation poster for “Dwelling” exhibition at the Evoluon,” Eindhoven, 1969. Ommoord was a project of the SAR; the Evoluon is a science museum and conference center [Via Curatorial Research Collective]; right: John Habraken, depiction of the support-infill principle for an unpublished booklet titled “Grondslagen voor de bouw van dragers en defabricage van dragerwoningen” (“Foundations for the construction of supports and their manufacture”), 1963.](https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FtdBmZ4WwAExWHE.jpg?name=orig)
ALT Left: Illustrations and floor plans for distinct units to accommodate different types of inhabitants. From “Langsstructuur Ommoord: presentatie bij Wonen’ tentoonstelling in het Evoluon” (“Longitudinal structure Ommoord: presentation poster for “Dwelling” exhibition at the Evoluon,” Eindhoven, 1969. Ommoord was a project of the SAR; the Evoluon is a science museum and conference center [Via Curatorial Research Collective]; right: John Habraken, depiction of the support-infill principle for an unpublished booklet titled “Grondslagen voor de bouw van dragers en defabricage van dragerwoningen” (“Foundations for the construction of supports and their manufacture”), 1963.
ALT From Wikipedia: "N. John Habraken (born 29 October 1928, Bandung, Dutch East Indies) is a Dutch architect, educator, and theorist. His theoretical contributions are in the field of user participation in mass housing, the integration of users and residents into the design process. The visual result of his theory is the architecture of lively variety. Habraken is the initiator of the international "Participation movement" in architecture. His book "Supports: An Alternative to Mass Housing", first published in 1961, is the manifesto and starting point of this movement. The theme "Resident or user participation" has been linked to Structuralism and Open building."
ALT Image from Wikipedia: "1997, Amsterdam Scheepstimmermanstraat, "Cubist style". Master plan and coordination West 8 (Adriaan Geuze), design of houses by different architects with individual clients"
ALT title & abstract from paper
ALT "Summary of Key Findings" from the paper
ALT Tweet: " Tim McCormick: on mastodon @[email protected] @tmccormick repurposing the huge disused parking area of US (60% of available land in many downtowns) is a key oppty to address housing scarcity & sprawl. @swyftcities ' smart gondolas 🚡 show a way. I'd add: enable interim flexible use now for urgent needs, eg mova ble housing, homelessness Images of SwyftCities gondola cars ALT tweet: " Laura Fingal-Surma | Urbanist Ventures @lfingalsurma 🧵Want more land in prime locations? Repurpose the vast areas currently devoted to parking! Swyft Cities CEO Jeral Poskey: It's time to think about how to build communities that aren’t built around cars Spoiler: @swyftcities is the most exciting & ambitious approach I've seen ALT
ALT Tweet: "m McCormick: on mastodon @[email protected] @tmccormick Replying to @andersem and @GovTinaKotek this is great, but there's also easily 37k households in PDX right now without a home (not doubled-up etc) & many more for whom that some day likely never comes. We could be quickly creating 10,000s of much lower-cost homes now eg by using #ORCFEC, disused lots, movable homes. Quote Tweet Tim McCormick: on mastodon @[email protected] @tmccormick · Feb 3 Replying to @tmccormick @renaud_pdx and 4 others and as often, I'd offer a third path, and view from where I am: here's permanent-able cottage home being built for $12k construction, & < $200/mo ground lease, by current/recently houseless &/or in recovery Portlanders getting a living wage & job training, in NE PDX. Image 9:26 PM · Feb 3, 2023 · 461 Views
