Jay Austin's Beautiful, Illegal Tiny House

3.1M views · 12 years ago · documentary · dated

ReasonTV profiles Jay Austin, who designed and built a small house in Washington, DC that ran afoul of local zoning rules. It shows the house and the regulations that made it illegal.

HN uses it in zoning and housing debates as an example of how rules limit small-footprint housing and building innovation.

“Zoning also kills innovation and flexibility.”

4 comments from Hacker News

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@Whoppertime2024 · in “Austin takes a bet on tiny homes to ease homelessness”
ReasonTV has a couple good videos on the subject ▶ this video link
RecommendsView on HN
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@8ig82014 · in “Jay Austin's Beautiful, Illegal Tiny House”
Submitted the video to Hacker News.
RecommendsView on HN
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@duncan_bayne2018 · in “The Impact of Zoning on Housing Affordability (2002)”
Why not just scrap zoning altogether? Houston has, and it seems to be working out pretty well for them. ▶ this video
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@duncan_bayne2017 · in “[dead]”
"In Houston’s particular case, a lack of zoning laws has led to an explosion of building, which further worsens flooding." That's a feature, not a bug - housing in Houston is notably cheaper for that reason (amongst others) than elsewhere in the country, and the world. Zoning also kills innovation and flexibility. See e.g.: ▶ this video