It’s a first for Pittsburgh.
Small Change raised $100,000 from a largely Pittsburgh crowd and made a construction loan to cityLAB build this Tiny House. The permit was approved in July of 2015 and construction began in September. By January of 2016 the tiny house was complete.
By 2015 cityLAB, an economic development non-profit, had been analyzing the neighborhood of Garfield in Pittsburgh for a year or two. Garfield was then a poor neighborhood, blighted by lack of investment with over 400 vacant lots — almost 25% of the neighborhood. cityLAB saw Garfield as a place of opportunity held back by lack of investment. So they decided to build the tiny house on a tiny, long vacant lot to see whether an alternative approach to building and affordable housing might spark interest in the neighborhood.
Being a first in Pittsburgh, the tiny house drew a lot of attention in the media and during the only open house held, just three hours long, 567 people lined up to see it for themselves. Only six weeks later, the house was sold.
You can read the project journal here.
Images courtesy of Eric Davis and Small Change
