Free of the connotation they have today, the concept of a trailer park is fairly altruistic. It is in service of creating naturally affordable homes through the efficiency of manufacturing and the subsidy through density of putting them on a shared neighborhood infrastructure, often including shared amenities.

But over time, that vision transformed into a nightmare as profit was favored over customer satisfaction. Nowadays, trailer parks have a rather dismal connotation.

The average cost of a new home in the state of Georgia in 2016 was $155,000.   In 2023, that has grown to a hefty $315,000.  Normal inflation aside, that massive increase in price over time is driven largely by 2 factors- housing scarcity- the fact that population growth continually exceeds new housing stock, making homes more valuable because of high demand/low stock- and because the SIZE of the average home has grown to 2500 sqft in the same time period.  

We asked cove.tool to educate us on why better density helps reduce carbon footprints and to conduct an energy modeling study comparing two home sizes in different weather regions across the United States. To thoroughly analyze these homes, cove.tool examined their performance across eight different climate regions in the United States, assessing the carbon emissions during the construction process as well as the energy output for utilities and electricity.

So, what did they conclude?

Many planners and leaders are coming to understand that minimum lot sizes and street frontage requirements (among other things) have led to urban development patterns that reduce infill development, exacerbate housing supply (and pricing) problems, increase car dependency, and reduce the ability to add housing in the places that already have the infrastructure to support additional density. Maybe these nice, wide lots in urban areas are part of the problem after all.

And that brings me to flag lots.

When we break free of the “more space = better” mentality and embrace ideas about minimal living and efficient space utilization, the idea of living in a smaller footprint becomes a lot less scary as a concept. It’s one of the conceptual drivers we embrace in our design philosophy at MicroLife that helps us build small without making spaces that feel small.

At the MicroLife Institute, one of the main drivers to our mission and dedication to Missing Middle Housing is rooted in reestablishing a sense of belonging and community that seems to have gotten further and further lost as we’ve stopped designing cities and neighborhoods for humans and instead design them for cars.

The Metro-Atlanta region is in the midst of a housing shortage. Our region’s housing costs have outpaced local incomes. Our neighbors say their communities are full, and for many, homeownership remains impossibly out of reach. We also live in the fourth fastest-growing metro region in the nation. Right now, experts predict nearly 2 million more people will move to Atlanta in the next five to ten years. Where will they go?

Hi, my name is Luke McEachern. I chose to study architecture because I believe housing should be accessible to everyone.

Two years ago, my business partner and I began to design a tiny home in hopes of learning not only the building process but also what makes home ownership seem like a far-fetched dream for many.

Do me a favor and if you were born before 1980, read this article. However you define Gen Xers and Baby Boomers, we are two generations that are living alone and not been giving enough options for housing. I am in the age bracket they are writing about, and I do live alone, and I do think about who’s gonna take care of me when I retire and do need to remind myself to be social.

We may already know from personal experience that walkability is great for our mental and emotional wellbeing (check out our insight on creating walkable city blocks). Of course, walkable communities can benefit our bodies as well.

In the race to build more housing to address our national housing crisis, many community members are wary of developers simply erecting high rise apartment towers on every block. When it comes down to it, we need more housing–as much of it as we can get. So while we shouldn’t necessarily fear high rises, we should ensure that they are at least doing their job of creating additional housing units. Increasingly though, this is not the case.

The challenges of downsizing within your community and a few solutions.

How can we support increasing rates of multigenerational housing in the US?

What The Golden Girls teaches us about housing.

MicroLife’s new Pocket Neighborhood development in Clarkston, Georgia.

New short-term rental legislation opens up thousands of housing units in Atlanta.

Atlanta housing is unaffordable. We need to do something about it.

New shipping-container marketplace hosts Black-owned small business on Atlanta’s Beltline

We are reimagining our cities and towns in small ways across the country, even here in Atlanta.

The need for workforce housing with influx of new industry jobs.