Neighborship (Noun) The state or condition of being neighbors; a community, connection, or relationship between or among people and/or things which is based simply on living close geographically.
Our Community is under THREAT!
Neighborship
Community Garden
Since March of 2015 we have quietly operated space for those interested in experimenting in off-grid tiny house technology and horticulture. We are a Community Garden where members can park movable storage units. We hold a lease, pay taxes, are insured, have trash service, water service, internet service and take being a good neighbor damn serious! Some members also serve as security night watch persons (people sleep in trailers). For this we are considered "illegal." Acknowledging this strange legal fiction, we have kept a low profile all these years. But our survival now depends on being proud and public.
Tiny House Communities are "Blight?"
Oakland is not alone in putting up paywalls to housing. Trailers are not allowed in most cities, despite serving as a highly practical and affordable way to house oneself. The blight laws come from an ugly history and belief that poverty is a contagion. The "trailer trash" troupe lives in our psyches despite the reality that they have historically served as affordable housing and a community model since inception. These Zoned-out laws block normal self-reliant individuals from producing their own housing. We assumed these outdated ordinances were too crazy to actually be enforced. We were wrong. During a pandemic, Oakland code enforcement is asking 6 individuals to go to the streets?
If we do not comply with this unreasonable demand we will face escalating fines, property lien, and a warrant.
Legalize Tiny Home Communities!
Is it really such a crime for a group of low-wage workers to use solar panels, tiny homes on wheels and porto potties to house themselves in ways the future may soon require of all of us? It's time to make the practical act of safely setting up Trailers and RVs on private land to create affordable housing legal. It's 2021. Please help bring sanity to our system. If you live near us, have ever visited us or are fighting your own battles to house yourselves and your family and friends, then please SIGN THIS PETITION.
6 Ways to Stop Oakland Code Enforcement Harassment of Tiny Homes on Wheels -Blog Post
Fuck Your Blight Code- podcast
ABOUT
Neighborship is a 501c3 nonprofit dedicated to affordable housing in the form of Tiny Home Communities. We serve Tiny Home Owners and those interested in living tiny to install and operate Tiny Home Communities. Modeled after Berkeley Student Cooperative, Neighborships' mission is to provide administrative, safety, and compliance support in partnership with residents to operate affordable urban cooperative eco-villages.
The vision is a world where homes are as prevalent and easy to acquire as a car paired with an abundance of permanent spaces to park them and plugin. In this world, homelessness is a concept outlined in history books.
Contact:
2015
2
47
8000
Year Established
Tiny Home Communities Operated
Individuals affordably housed in our history.
True estimate of Oakland residents experiencing housing precarity