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NY Times Asks, “Where Can You Park a Tiny Home?”


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The NY Times just did a piece called Where Can You Park a Tiny Home?

It showcases several stories of tiny homeowners and where they ‘park’ their homes.

The article covers a big issue in the tiny house world that’s often overlooked… Lack of legal parking options for people who want to live in tiny homes on wheels.

NY Times Asks the Big Question! Where Can You Park a Tiny Home?

Read the full story here.

Our thanks to Peter Christiansen and Dan George for sharing!

This post contains affiliate links.

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Alex

Alex is a contributor and editor for TinyHouseTalk.com and the always free Tiny House Newsletter. He has a passion for exploring and sharing tiny homes (from yurts and RVs to tiny cabins and cottages) and inspiring simple living stories. We invite you to send in your story and tiny home photos too so we can re-share and inspire others towards a simple life too. Thank you!
{ 10 comments… add one }
  • October 9, 2017, 12:37 pm

    The fire that in us, until there is life, translate it into emotions to donate, with art as a gesture of sincere love, because we freely have, and we freely donate.

    • janet
      October 9, 2017, 8:03 pm

      What? Like what are you trying to say in regards to this article?

      • gmh
        October 10, 2017, 4:06 pm

        Sometimes, non-English speakers use online translators to comment. I think that is the case here. But I could be wrong.

  • October 9, 2017, 1:43 pm

    there is a site called http://www.tryItTiny.com that looks promising for those that are traveling with their tiny house.

  • Emily
    October 9, 2017, 6:15 pm

    I love watching all the tiny house shows and this newsletter, but it seems that always they park on someone else lot. I’d love to see a tiny house built on the owners own land and what it took to do so.

  • Mark
    October 9, 2017, 6:23 pm

    Communities are going to have to come to grips- one way or another- with the Tiny Home Community and its movement.

  • comet
    October 10, 2017, 12:48 am

    I read thru all of the NYT Comments and saw
    many from both “sides” of the TH issue. One continuing theme is taxes and the arrogance of TH owners who feel they are being “done wrong” by being “forced” to pay taxes. Most would scream if we reminded them that taxes pay for the roads that get their TH material to them, and get the TH to a destination. They feel that taxes are evil. Taxes are the price we pay for civilization. They feel as if they are “entitled” to live as they please. And that the rest of us are not as “cool” as they.

    I recently bought a vintage RV—, no not the hip tin can with the wings—an actual RV- with a real kitchen and bath. For far less than almost ANY TH I have seenIt’s far nicer than my ZIP code house. All solid wood. More room in the kitchen. Of course you need to deal with tanks- fresh, grey and the dreaded black. Which is not as big a deal as it is made out to be. For casual travel you can often stay free overnight in a Walmart lot- with permission- and really with the curtains drawn who cares? Also casinos and some truck stops. Saves you RV park fees, meaning you only need to stay if you need to dump your tank ( about 4 days for 2 adults) ,and in some cases you can dump elsewhere for free. A night at an RV spot can cost $30-75, depending on how fancy and how many people you have and your RV
    size. A cheap hotel in possibly bed bug infested area will run you $75 or more, with no option of staying in that casino lot!

    A “mobile home” park will run you a few hundred a month, but you would have electricity, sewer, water, and be contributing to the community that you live in. .Again— someone is paying those taxes, no matter if you cut the check or your landlord does. Getting over the snob factor here is a big issue, refusing to acknowledge that if all you can afford is a mobile home park rent maybe living there is not a terrible option. These were after all one of the solutions to the post War housing problem.

    • James D.
      October 10, 2017, 5:57 pm

      Comet, I don’t believe people are really complaining about legitimate reasons and uses of taxes. Most people are perfectly willing to pay taxes for infrastructure and other common needs.

      Many are even willing to work out alternatives to traditional property taxes that wouldn’t require people to live in one area all the time.

      The problem is essentially “taxation without representation” because as a practical matter voters – as property owners – have no say in the amount of property taxation they endure or the rules or regulations they have to live under.

      This effects not only how much people may be required to pay, which can be so excessive in some places that it’s the reason some areas are too pricey for everyone to afford, but also how they may choose to live… People are being prohibited from opting to live off-grid, from choosing more efficient ways of life, from using their property for anything that may not be considered good for property value, etc.

      There’s also the matter of corruption and special interests. Every time the news reports a corrupt politician who has been living large on taxpayers money, among other wasteful uses of taxpayer money, there’s an understandable objection to how at least some of our tax money is being used… Along with more direct and significant examples…

      Like there have been fraudulent tax lien procedures used to make people lose their homes so others could profit. Essentially, corrupt county treasurers conspired with realtors, lawyers, and judges to rig phony homestead exemption fees, late fees, and penalties. Allowing those in on it to get the houses for low cost and then sell them for profit.

      The last housing market crash just awoke many people to how the system is often rigged and how easily it can be to lose everything…

      Some taxes are also because of special interests who want to manipulate us in various ways, like that is one of the reasons they are considering raising the gasoline tax as a form of penalty tax…

      Many who see where our tax money is actually going is the reason why so many are now starting to object…

      Needless to say, it’s a complicated matter because as you said there are legitimate reasons why certain taxes exist but there are also legitimate reasons why people are objecting to the existing system and how corrupt it can be.

      Especially, as to how it contributes to the sense of hitting a brick wall whenever people look for alternatives and the ability to choose non-traditional ways of life.

      Just to show how extreme it is getting in some places, there’s a farmer in Red Bluff, California. who is being sued by the government for farming his own land, which is designated for farming!

      Reason being this was part of a larger effort by the government to start requiring all farmers to start requiring permits to plow anything and thus dictate what they can and can’t grow as well as provide an alternative way to tax them.

      For many, this is just yet the latest example of how our rights are being eroded for no good reason and for many, it’s just a matter of a sense that enough is enough…

      While this all contributes to the difficulty of finding a place to live, regardless of whether it’s a Tiny House, a RV, a Earthship, a Cob House, a Tree House, a Boat House, or any other number of alternatives, the present system simply is not meeting the needs of everyone and thus much needs to change…

    • Monty
      October 11, 2017, 1:06 am

      Most of your tax money is used to finance useless billion dollar army projects…

  • John G
    October 10, 2017, 2:00 am

    I always thought that was why we had a gasoline tax, to pay for the upkeep of the hi-ways. I guess I was wrong.

    Finding a place to park a TH out in the country isn’t that hard in Okla. Of course we only have two big cities in the state. I have given a lot of thought to buying enough land to start a small community of TH’s, but I don’t see that many in the state at this time. Maybe if I aimed it more at the retirement aged people that don’t need a big house anymore it would work.

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