jon c. 

Tiny homes may be getting a lot of press these days, but in real terms the concept is far, far from mainstream acceptance.

MyBikeIsMyCar

I have been taking the ferry as a bike commuter for 4 years. In that time I have seen the number of regular bicycle commuters increase from 1-2 a day to 4-5 a day.

just sharing data...

I-Like-To-Bike

Perhaps Dave Cutter meant that talk about Home Automation, Tiny homes, and Self-driving automobiles is becoming mainstream.

Of course Talk is cheap, though the PR effort promoting such Talk and keeping the subject especially of Self-driving automobiles "mainstream" in the absence of any significant product to sell, let alone sold, probably is not cheap.

JBHoren

Like the song says: (Otis Redding/Carla Thomas -- "Tramp")

"I got six Cadillacs, five Lincolns, four Fords
Six Mercuries, three T-Birds, Mustangs, ooh, I'm a lover"

source: https://play.google.com/music/previe...gnid=kp-lyrics

jon c. 

That's funny as I read it immediately after reading another article on driverless vehicles in the NY Review. It is an impressive PR machine. And there seems a clear intent to suggest that the dominance of such vehicles will come much sooner than seems likely in reality.

cooker

It all depends on your definition of "mainstream". If it means accepted by most people, then it doesn't have to mean they all practise it.

rossiny

Considering that our total way of being in this world is geared towards cars. I don't see how it would become main stream, unless some HUGE catastrophe comes into play. Consider how many jobs are created by cars and all the manufacture around it,, road contruction, if we stop building cars and selling our economy the way it is set up now would crash overnite. Unless cars are phased out gradually and other fo4m of economy is introduce there would be chaos and panic the zombies would come alive and attack

Dave Cutter

Even my 90 year mother enjoys the TV shows about tiny homes. Everyone knows of them and even though the actual number of tiny homes are small. The movement has been around since the late 80's and is well known.

Dave Cutter

Yet my reference to Edward Ludlam (aka Ned Ludd) was totally over-looked?

The tiny homes also free people to be able to take their home with them as they follow job opportunity's and are often pulled around by large trucks.

I included what I believe are popular enough interests that virtually everyone would recognize them and accept their popularity. Of course.... Living Car Free... didn't make the "mainstream list".

Ekdog

I-Like-To-Bike

TV shows and movies about zombies, vampires, and comic book heroes/villains are popular too, everybody knows about them. That popularity doesn't make a belief of their existence in the real world "mainstream".

cooker

As I understand it, Luddites were concerned about technology displacing workers, so based on your list of what is now 'mainstream' like autonomous vehicles, we are due for a neo-Luddite revival any day. However I think the suggestion that environmentalists, the car-free, or even the Luddites for that matter, somehow oppose progress or technology, is a false meme, that perhaps inhibits the car-free movement or car-free living from being seen as mainstream. Nobody wants to eliminate technology, they just want to limit harm, much like you refuse to admit you meant when you talked about responsible use of resources.

jon c. 

That's the fantasy in any case.

The cost of shipping and hooking up at a new site tends to be glossed over, but in reality I think this would make the enterprise questionable in terms of economic viability. And I have my doubts that the structures would well withstand shipping stress over repeated moves. Mobile homes are specifically designed for this and after decades of technological improvements they still tend to have issues with moving as they age. But there is a reason they are constructed as they are. Slapping a stick built frame on wheels is more aesthetically pleasing that your classic mobile home, but I don't see it working out over time. Some of the "features" that make mobile homes less desirable to many exist because they provide functionality and affordability.

fietsbob

Nope , cars still sell well.. & in the winter traveling dry and warm wins & hauls back more Prezzies from the big box stores.

US crushed trolleys & public transit, in the post war years , at the behest of the Tire, gas and car and bus makers.

McBTC

That's pretty much what I've noticed too except that retired couples I know of travel more than when they were working and may not even trim down to a single vehicle if they're engaged in different activities or end up owning a diesel truck to pull a 5th wheel...

Lucillle

Is it more than realtor fees and the etc. involved in selling a traditional house and then buying one elsewhere?

cooker

I think the comparison would be with an apartment or a trailer park.

rossiny

In a nut shell u nailed it.. We have to sell cars and tire...buy...buy...buy we are like zombies...buy buy....

rossiny

What do tiny homes have to do with living car free?

McBTC

Low overhead?

Walter S

Sign me up. When I retire I'm looking forward to a coast to coast bicycle trip!

McBTC

No SAG wagon?

Walter S

No way. Human power all the way. A motel stop here and there.

_kilroy_

Car Free is "mainstream" in high density cities, where car ownership is impractical and public transportation and bike lanes are abundant. NYC, CHI, San Fran.
I would counter argue against wolfchild, Auto manufacturers are having harder and harder times selling new car to the dreaded Millennials.

I-Like-To-Bike

Good for you, hope the journey pans out and you enjoy the travel. Perhaps you will get some non-mainstream tips on enhancing the car free adventure by using inexpensive/unconventional camping sites and the use of tarps as shelter from others on this list.