Tiny Houses by cityLAB

Tiny Houses

cityLAB is a tiny nonprofit.

We are excited about Garfield and excited about Tiny Houses.

(Thanks to a grant from the Pittsburgh Partnership for

Neighborhood Development to study how to bring Tiny

Houses to Garfield.)

Garfield has: great community assets, a great location, a decreasing number of vacant houses…

…but many vacant lots.

(The County Assessment says there are 577 vacant lots in Garfield, and that 181 of them are owned by the City or by the Urban Redevelopment Authority. The Bloomfield-Garfield Corporation is assembling

them bit by bit for sale.)

In red: publicly-owned lots in Garfield. (Estimated price: $3,000-$5,000)

Average estimated value of detached houses in Garfield in 2010: $65,000 (includes old and new houses.)

Average construction cost of average (2,300 sf) single-family home in US in 2011: $184,125

Here’s an example of a Tiny House.

WHIDBEY, from the Tumbleweed Tiny House Company. 461 sf.

Estimated cost of materials: $43,000 !

Estimated total construction cost in Pittsburgh:* $108,000

* via Building-Cost.net

Monthly payment for a 30-year mortgage for $108,000: $516* at 4% interest

Tiny Houses could bridge the gap…

!

(There are lots of vacant lots. And there are no minimum size

restrictions for single family houses in Pittsburgh.)

…and make Garfield a destination for a new type of housing that

people can’t find anywhere else.

So, what do YOU want in a Tiny House?

Build it yourself?

Or buy a turnkey Tiny House?

Live in a neighborhood

surrounded by not-tiny houses?

Or in a pocket neighborhood with shared amenities?

Live between

other houses?

Or live in the woods?

Live very close to a main street?

Or farther away from a main street?

Are you ready to move into a Tiny House?

Or are you in the very early planning

stages?

(We’re in the very early planning

stages!)

We look forward to thinking small together.

Ideas? Feedback? Email info@citylabpgh.org.