It makes sense for Colorado communities to look at adjusting their building codes to allow “tiny houses” that might be illegal under minimum square-footage and other requirements, . Consumer demand should rule, not outdated codes.
But outside of true aficionados, is there really significant pent-up demand for tiny houses that can be 100 square feet or less?
We’ll see, but if so it would certainly mark a major reversal of decades during which Americans sought more space, not less.
In 1950, the average house was less than 1,000 square feet — and families were significantly larger.
By 1973, the average home reached 1,660 square feet, and by 2013 it had grown to 2,679, . Perry points out that living space per person actually doubled over those 40 years, given smaller household size.
You can see this phenomenon still at work in the scrape-offs around Denver where small old houses are replaced with big new ones. The tiny-house movement may be growing, but the big-house movement is still going strong.
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