Homes don’t have to be huge as they are now. The ever expanding USA single family home: average square footage of single-family homes in the USA: 1950 – 983; 1970 – 1,500; 1990 – 2,080; 2004 – 2,349.

Tiny houses are looking at going back even earlier than 1950, and that is a good idea. I would also like to see experiments with small houses along the lines of 1950s (or even a bit smaller). By reducing the high cost of housing we can drastically change personal finances for the non-rich in the USA (and elsewhere).

The innovative thinking by Cass Community Social Services discussed in the video in is the type of thinking we need to see more of. The Detroit non-profit is building tiny houses and making them available for rent to low income residents. The effort includes monthly personal finance and home care classes to make those tenants ready to transition to home owners (which they can do, buying the houses they start out renting).

The plan is to use the rent-to-own model. Rent is capped at 1/3 of income (and should be something around $250/month I think). The houses cost about $40,000 build and funding from the Ford Foundation has jump started this effort. The initial effort plans to build 25 tiny houses.

I think housing innovation is one of the areas with great potential to make people’s lives better by reducing the burden on people’s finances. Tiny houses are one method. Multi-generational housing communities is another. Dorm-like housing is another (I would have found this appealing after college). These apartment buildings seek to increase the social space in the building and encourage social interaction and also often have smaller units (bringing down the cost while providing benefits people desire – social options).

Related: Making the Most of 450 Square Feet – Amazingly Flexible 344 Square Foot Room Can Transform Into 24 Different Rooms

And tiny housing can be even more tiny for those seeking to travel with RV and van-life options appealing to many people today.

Sure, I don’t think a majority of people are ever going to want to live the van-life but having all these options and creating the room for lifestyles that provide a high quality of life even without a very high income is important. And a majority of people are not going to want to live in a tiny house; but it can be an absolutely great option for hundreds of millions of people worldwide.