At the Democratic National Convention, Joe Biden said the nation will not downsize the American dream, which is a fine and noble vow that everyone should ignore.
Of course we must downsize the American dream — or at minimum the size of our mortgages, lest we all be living in huts when the dollar fails and Social Security dries up. How best to do this? Simple: Live in a hut right now.
Comments
Not sure what the point of this article is, but it is Jennifer Graham after all, the Globe's strangest new hire.
I am a little offended by that, honestman. I wanted to be thought of as the Globe's strangest new hire. But I must say, as someone who is obsessed with real estate large and small, I found this column illuminating.
What do you find illuminating in it? I cannot determine what the author's point-of-view is. It seems that typically, for the few columns I've seen, JG, respectfully, seems to be a voice from that strange twilight zone where Erma Bombeck meets Sarah Palin, which I don't find terribly appealing, but at least in those stories the writer's stances were clear.
Jennifer, I don't think we need "Tiny Houses" as a widespread solution. Just modest will do. To get there, however, we need to start with more aggressive land use reforms in the near and outer suburbs. We can solve a lot with smaller lots with better planning, and multifamily housing as of right or by nondiscretionary special permits in places from Lexington to Dover.
Henry David Thoreau didn't live the way he lived because it was 'trendy' or because he was a middle-class American trying to prove how hip he was. The $400.00 seminar is sold out because the people who can afford to go are middle-class, and/or urban developers. I can just see all those people foraging in dumps for materials. hahahah. Too funny. Modular homes have been popular since the middle of the 20th century, that is, houses built from "kits", which could accomodate any number of price and size ranges; the Tumbleweed company isn't as innovative as they sound. They're merely capitalizing and jumping on a trend that others popularized a long time ago. OH, and how much does the land cost to build on? Land isn't free.
Please don't use the words "us", "we" and "our" -- when it comes to describing the American way as part of the bigger is better head set; not all of "us" feel that way.
I believe Small is better but then how small? Small will have to first slay the behemoths
of Zoning Boards, whcih will not likely allow a dinky house in Beverly Hills, Brookline.
But good luck to the teeny people and to the teeny philosophy. Our Native Americans also lived in teeny homes called wigwams, hogans, adobes and during the New England winter, in long houses, still modest in size. And they lived this way for thousands of years. It would be
wonderful if all nations were to adopt this modest, less environmentally injurious, way of living.
I am not suggesting wigwams and the like but a philopshy and adoption of Occam'si
Razor, which says "What can be done with less, is vainly done with more."
This is a free translation of the original Latin: "Entia non sunt multiplicanda." (Beings should not be multiplied.)
Remember when middle class siblings shared bedrooms? Good training for college....
What about tiny houses as a temporary measure for the homeless?