Prefab Homes and other dreams

A couple of months ago I came across an article in New York Times about prefabricated homes and thought to myself what a great idea. Cheap and depending on which company you go with, ecologically-sound, the small and simple homes can go for anywhere between $35 to $300 per square foot. Think of it as an ikea-like home, packed flat from manufacturers with an instruction booklet sure to drive you insane when assembling. But for the environmentally-conscious, middle class New Yorker who could never dream of the two words, "home owner," prefab homes may be an interesting alternative (although I have no idea what the cost of land is these days).


Spending the last couple of weeks searching for a new apartment in New York has really got me thinking, where do the middle class live? Canarise? New Jersey? Staten Island? Thankfully, suffering economically and eating ramen noodles are acceptable experiences to have at my age so for now I will stay in New York, but I wonder, would prefab houses ever go over here? Can you imagine a trailer park type neighborhood full of prefab houses, you could fit so many and New York would be the best place to start since we're use to the 10X10 rooms with all of our worldly possessions stuck underneath our beds.

I'm all for it, if it means I could finally be a New York H.O.'er, even though I'd be totally fucked if a tornado or a hurricane struck. But the article does point out the Feng Sui-ness of living minimally, which does not limit the prefab home owner from technological advances, some of the homes come with top of the line electronics including a banging sound system. I do have to envy the fact that some of these prefab home owners are living in spacious nature settings outside NY, where they probably spend most of their day outdoors enjoying the clean crisp air, but I guess New Yorkers do the same except the air isn't too crisp and we spend most of our day working 2 jobs, eating out at fabulous restaurants, visiting museums and galleries and partying it up. Still though, bring on the prefab homes!

Check out Wee Homes and Tumbleweed Homes for two of my favorites!