Submitted by Cristiane Roget, Sr Correspondent AdAvenueGroup/Forbes France
Miami/FL Our future economic outlook is uncertain at best. An unequivocal ‘truth’ is a Teutonic shift to a more sustainable lifestyle is within our grasp. This unprecedented ‘time out’ has us recalibrating, rethinking and reassessing how we engage in the social matrix. A groundswell of choices from more Air BnB style mobility to extending the family unit to include multiple generations in pre manufactured compounds are but a few examples.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0psGIUJnIAQ (Yahgee)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b8iEjvMRzho (Archispace)
The shuttering last week of America’s first USA “House Store” Mia Pods, Inc. with a run on all 7 show models selling out in a matter of days is one more indication that nothing is ‘business as usual’. In the short 6 months that the 12,000 foot Mia Pod Showroom put out the welcome mat, 100’s of prospects navigated their way to the obscure Pompano Beach location “to kick the tires” and discuss plans for single family homes to multi unit communities in northern Florida, the Dominican Republic , Gary-Indiana, Nigeria, Sudan and all points in between.
As populations crawl out of the Covid – Cave; housing costs combined with lost or stagnant wages signal a calm before the storm. Pre-pandemic, hard working America spent 50% to 70% of their income on their dwelling whether it was a leased apartment, a rented house or home ownership with a 30 year ball and chain commitment. Economists and common wisdom tells us the remaining 40% was a meager allocation for the basic ‘needs’ like utilities or the aspirational ‘wants’ like a Macchiato at the corner ‘FourBucks‘ .
Let The New Begin Before ‘the Bail Out Well’ Runs Dry.
A safe and sturdy home is the foothold for civic stability and economic mobility. Advocates of compact modular eco homes in their endless iterations from tiny houses, yurts , geodesic, multi-generational compounds or sustainable pre-manufactured communities are joining with real estate developers and leaders from the private and public sector to explore solutions. With an estimated shortfall of 20 million homes in the USA alone combined resourcefulness and resources could create a domestic based, assembly line building model that is scalable and easily monetized. The time is now to mount a concerted national housing program and complimentary media campaign to inform the populous that alternatives housing solutions are plentiful.
These are innovative and affordable housing solutions with low environmental impact that could be manifested in months, not years!
Zombie Buildings or the coming age of Abandonminiums
https://journalistsresource.org/studies/government/municipal/abandoned-buildings-revitalization/
Goldilocks Moments
Adversity Once Again Breeds Innovation.
We the public have an inalienable right to safe habitats. We also have the aptitude to empower ourselves in make choices with far reaching implications in how we choose to live as a society.
As a rule of thumb a turnkey compact modular eco home or building can be delivered to any plot of land (on or off the grid) in a matter of 90 days or less . With estimated manufacturing costs at $100 USD a square foot more or less, a 2 bedroom, open living space , kitchen and bath comes in at an economical $60 k. Fashioned from galvanized steel these modular habitats have the durability to last 30 years. In other words for the price of a cup of coffee a day buyers would own their house in a matter of four years at less than their current rent. The kicker is they are mobile, owners can relocate their pod as long as there is a rail, road or sea within the vicinity.
Pre manufactured housing aligned with the most advanced technology is a burgeoning industry in Europe, Asia and India where housing shortages were here to date chronic. The Western Hemisphere’s resistance to pre manufactured housing is bred in part with America’s lumber lobbyists and entrenched building practices requiring perspective home owners or general contractors to navigate a labyrinth of zoning, compliance and permitting issues.
Forward thinking developers have aligned themselves with off shore assembly plants that consistently can output 10,000 smart habitats and commercial spaces a month. Pre manufactured assembly factories ala Henry Ford are turning up from Indiana to India, and of course Asia where 80% of the world’s steel is smelted. “Better to build bedrooms than bombs, ” says Holmes Stoner , a war veteran and Founder of the Pacific Rim Chamber of Commerce and Pac Rim Business Council. The Pac Rim Chamber of Commerce,pacrimcc.com a grassroots coalition represents over 150,000 small businesses emanating from 23 countries that ring the Pacific from Tierra del Fuego to New Zealand.
“The Wall that needs to be built has in fact four walls and a roof. Ours is a sustainable and affordable closed loop housing solution,” comments filmmaker Kevin Barillas of Miami based Co-Modeco.com a limited liability company and a seasoned modular home consultancy.
Hello, Pacific Rim Chamber of Commerce Members,
