Shipping Containers: A Viable Solution for Homelessness?

Would converting shipping containers into two-room lodges with plumbing be a quick solution to accommodating the homeless? The answer is yes, with caveats as mentioned by others. Neighbors and city governments are not always fond of the idea of a village of formerly homeless people, which is evidenced by the fact that many who responded to this question continue to refer to the hypothetical residents as homeless, even though they have been hypothetically housed. This sentiment has been disheartening to say the least.

Addressing the Issues

It's an interesting idea. While there are issues to address such as location costs, utilities, and policing the community, in many places, it makes sense as the homeless already have established communities, and some have been homeless for years. A better question is how to help them back on their feet once the temporary shelter issues are resolved. Don't let the naysayers stop you from trying to help. Help is needed, and the government is not the answer.

A Viable Solution

The short answer is yes. Converting shipping containers into two-room lodges with plumbing is a perfectly viable solution. Elsewhere, Eileen Wood raised excellent points about some of the challenges that may complicate the issue, and I will address those below, but the short answer is: Certainly.

Overcoming the Challenges

There are some roadblocks standing in the way, but here's how to get around them:

1. Location Costs and Eyesores

Any county in the United States of America has run down areas, blighted areas, and long-abandoned buildings that have already been vandalized. These areas are considered eyesores. Nobody will complain about using one of these as a launch pad because they've already got an eyesore in their backyard, and anything you do there, short of setting up a meth lab, is an improvement.

2. Utilizing Existing Infrastructure

All of these old industrial sites already have tie-ins to the grid, sewage systems, etc., that you would need. All that would be required is to have them re-zoned for mixed use. In many cases, this will have already occurred, and you're all set.

3. Refurbishing or Building on the Bones

It may be possible to use containers to build on the bones of what's already there. This is highly dependent on the structural soundness of the buildings currently standing on the spot. In many cases, it would be cheaper to refurbish and build apartments into them using shipping containers as a base than it would be to bulldoze everything and start fresh.

4. Aesthetics and Design

Shipping container homes or apartments don't have to look like they are made of shipping containers. Toss some siding on them, add a pitched roof, and unless someone told you there was a shipping container underneath, you wouldn't know the difference.

5. Selection and Accessibility

The problem of selection can be addressed by making the process largely self-selecting. This isn't a handout; it's a hand up. If you're working but homeless (which accounts for a surprising percentage of the homeless population) and need a lower-cost alternative to conventional housing, homes like these could provide you with a viable option. If you're not but want to be, follow the rules, and you have a subsidized place to live, job training would be a necessary part of the equation.

To address the question of who would help with the work, I advocate for the involvement of the homeless themselves as much as possible. Even if that work had to be supervised by licensed electricians and plumbers, they could play a crucial role in creating the place. We can get professional help from volunteers just like Habitat for Humanity does.

Additional Benefits

Personally, if I had the funds to bankroll a project like this, I would encourage the creation of community businesses in and around the new housing. This includes the addition of a fully-outfitted FabLab, which would allow the people living in the community access to the tools they need to make almost everything they could want for themselves. With mastery of these machines, they could start making finished goods to sell to the general public. Another way the community could make money would be to charge a modest fee to the community at large for access to their 'Maker Space.'

This approach does not address every aspect of homelessness and does not tackle the issues surrounding people with addictions or mental health struggles. However, it would absolutely move the needle, freeing up more resources to better address the remaining portion of the problem.