Villages of Tiny Houses for Homeless

Guest: Sergio Palleroni, Professor of Architecture, Portland State University, Director of Center for Public Interest Design Across the country, cities struggle to find places to build homeless shelters and affordable housing, because established neighborhoods don’t want them in their backyards. Over the last decade, through a combination of desperation and creativity, we’ve started to see villages of tiny houses built for – and often by – homeless people popping up as a solution. Usually residents live alone or as a couple in small one-room huts – maybe even a shipping container converted into housing - with communal kitchen and bathroom facilities. Portland is home to the very first of these, called Dignity Village, which started in 2001 in an industrial part of the city where nobody would complain about having it as a neighbor. Dignity Village today is now thriving with some 60 people, its far flung location remains a challenge for residents.