HGTV and the âFreakishâ Tiny House Movement
HGTV and the “Freakish” Tiny House Movement HGTV perpetuates that people who embrace the tiny house movement are strange, but in the era of the affordable housing crisis, are they really? Tiny House Builders. Tiny House, Big Living. Tiny House Hunters. Tiny House Nation. These are just a handful of the recent onslaught of television shows focusing on the “tiny house” phenomenon. The “Tiny House Movement” seems to have popped up overnight. Besides being fodder for channels like HGTV, the movement has been the subject of top ten lists, think pieces, and ridicule. Though there is no set definition on what constitutes a tiny house, anything less than 1,000 square feet seems to be classified as being part of the movement. Small houses seem to be classified as 400 to 1,000 square feet, with tiny houses being under 400 square feet. While this may seem small it’s really not that small when you take a few moments to think about it. The average size of a single family home in 1978 was 1,780 square feet, which isn’t much bigger than what is classified as a small home now. In fact, most of us likely grew up in a home around this size. The house I grew up in was 1,310 square feet, and was just fine for a family of four and
a dog. The condo that I live in now with my partner is around 800 square feet, and has more than enough space for the two of us. On the other hand, the size of the average new single family home has grown exponentially since 1978 from 1,780 square feet to a whopping 2,662 square feet as of 2013, despite the fact when the size of the average family is decreasing.
So, if we grew up in houses that were considered close to being small, or were small, why the sudden fascination with tiny houses? The popularity of the tiny house movement is undoubtedly a direct result of the times that we live in. The prices for homes that are considered average keeps going up, while wages remain stagnant. While many of our parents may have owned a home before their thirties, it remains a pipe dream for their children. Affordable housing is increasingly difficult to come by, and many major cities in Canada, as well as more rural areas, are currently experiencing dangerously low vacancy rates (the city that I live in last reported its vacancy rate hovering around 0.6 percent). Add this to the fact that many millennials and young adults being saddled with college debt, and it creates the perfect storm for downsizing and carving out a path that is different than that of our parents’. People who are making do with very little, or embracing the tiny house lifestyle, are often viewed as anomalies, when really they are simply trying to make ends meet. Many people are downsizing both their possessions and their lifestyles in order to stay in the black, so it makes perfect sense that our generation would embrace tiny houses. Tiny house subdivisions, or villages, are cropping up all over America, creating communities of like-minded people, but also in some cases serving as housing for those who are without homes, or who are in transition. With affordable housing being difficult to come by, it makes sense that these communities and these houses would be used as a vessel to help those in need get back on their feet. Yet, television shows featuring tiny houses on HGTV attempt to paint these people as freaks or weirdos, only because they wish to live a little more simply, or have had to cut costs somewhere where they can. Paying for housing often constitutes for half, or more, of many peoples’ paycheques. It makes sense to want to live in a smaller home. HGTV continues to perpetuate the false pretense that we should all want, or strive for, large and opulent homes, that cover acres of land (that someone will inevitably have to mow). We equate having a big house with success, but it wasn’t that long ago that our houses would be considered small by today’s standards. While I’m certain that there are some people who wish to own large homes, it’s becoming more of a dream for many.
a dog. The condo that I live in now with my partner is around 800 square feet, and has more than enough space for the two of us. On the other hand, the size of the average new single family home has grown exponentially since 1978 from 1,780 square feet to a whopping 2,662 square feet as of 2013, despite the fact when the size of the average family is decreasing.
So, if we grew up in houses that were considered close to being small, or were small, why the sudden fascination with tiny houses? The popularity of the tiny house movement is undoubtedly a direct result of the times that we live in. The prices for homes that are considered average keeps going up, while wages remain stagnant. While many of our parents may have owned a home before their thirties, it remains a pipe dream for their children. Affordable housing is increasingly difficult to come by, and many major cities in Canada, as well as more rural areas, are currently experiencing dangerously low vacancy rates (the city that I live in last reported its vacancy rate hovering around 0.6 percent). Add this to the fact that many millennials and young adults being saddled with college debt, and it creates the perfect storm for downsizing and carving out a path that is different than that of our parents’. People who are making do with very little, or embracing the tiny house lifestyle, are often viewed as anomalies, when really they are simply trying to make ends meet. Many people are downsizing both their possessions and their lifestyles in order to stay in the black, so it makes perfect sense that our generation would embrace tiny houses. Tiny house subdivisions, or villages, are cropping up all over America, creating communities of like-minded people, but also in some cases serving as housing for those who are without homes, or who are in transition. With affordable housing being difficult to come by, it makes sense that these communities and these houses would be used as a vessel to help those in need get back on their feet. Yet, television shows featuring tiny houses on HGTV attempt to paint these people as freaks or weirdos, only because they wish to live a little more simply, or have had to cut costs somewhere where they can. Paying for housing often constitutes for half, or more, of many peoples’ paycheques. It makes sense to want to live in a smaller home. HGTV continues to perpetuate the false pretense that we should all want, or strive for, large and opulent homes, that cover acres of land (that someone will inevitably have to mow). We equate having a big house with success, but it wasn’t that long ago that our houses would be considered small by today’s standards. While I’m certain that there are some people who wish to own large homes, it’s becoming more of a dream for many.
