The dream of living in a community is shared by many tiny house enthusiasts. Some of us want easy access to public transportation and urban activities; others want a country life with shared gardens and farm animals. Finding kindred spirits with whom to live can be challenging, but once you’ve establish those connections, you may find the ideas below helpful.
Gather Information
Starting a tiny house community may not be easy, but it is rewarding. Building a community takes passion alongside time, money, and sifting through lots of information about your local zoning and building code regulations. We have gathered as much information as we could to help you along your quest to happiness.
- Tiny Houses on Wheels only? If wheels only, you may be able to buy or build an RV park. Check your local length of stay restrictions in your area.
- Tiny houses on foundations? Find out your local zoning regulations. You may need to create a Planned Unit Development or a pocket neighborhood then provide your county with extensive detail on the types and density of homes as well as the infrastructure (roads, common buildings, etc.) of your tiny community. Expect these plans to be thoroughly reviewed before you can begin to build.
- Who will own the land?
- How will decisions be made regarding community rules and expectations?
- How will you fund the purchase and ongoing expenses (maintenance and improvements)?
Helpful Books
- Creating a Life Together: practical tools to grow ecovillages and intentional communities. Not specific to tiny houses, but a great reference for starting a community.
- Pocket Neighborhoods: creating small scale community in a large scale world. Geared toward small (rather than tiny) homes, but the community concepts are still applicable.
- Tent City Urbanism, a reference and guide on creating tiny house villages for folks in need.
Useful Links
- Tiny House Village Road Map from the Tent City Urbanism website, an adjunct to the book listed above.
- Formation documents for Opportunity Village Eugene for homeless folks in Oregon, including site plans and a hearing for a conditional use permit, from Square One Villages.
- How to get zoning passed for a pocket neighborhood, by Rene Hardee in Rockledge, FL.
- Community Frameworks Tiny Homes White Paper, March 2015
- Shared Equity Homeownership as an Affordable, Sustainable Choice, blog post from Tent City Urbanism
- The National Community Land Trust Network provides research, advocacy, education, and support for its members to support permanently affordable access to land, homes, and community assets.
- Cohousing, the Cohousing Association of the United States, with a lot of great info on creating and living in cohousing.
- Fellowship for Intentional Community, a nonprofit organization dedicated to promoting cooperative culture.
- Pocket Neighborhoods website, an adjunct to Ross Chapine’s book, the website porvides additional ideas on how to start a “pattern of housing that fosters a strong sense of community among nearby neighbors, while preserving their need for privacy.”
- 6 Guidelines to Start a Successful Community from the Valhalla Movement
- For RV parks:
- RV Park University: a website that offers a course on investing in RV parks, from the perspective of an investor whose main focus is profit. Nonetheless, it offers insights regarding purchasing and managing an RV park.
- Campground Connection: RV parks for sale
- RV Park Store: RV parks for sale
