Here is a long article here about a new community in Olympia Washington. It consists of 29 tiny houses for the homeless. It is well written and covers a good deal of the background detail. I think, what they are doing here is great, and thought you might also want to read about it.
I hope that they have left each of the inhabitants a place to grow a little garden. I also hope that many communities use this as an example and set up similar sites.
I have only two suggestions. One is that they put in flooring, or even paint the plywood because it is not easy to keep raw plywood clean. The other is that the build supplemental stairs since it does not look safe or easy to reach the bottom stair on these houses.
On the topic of handouts, yesterday I saw a video which pointed out some very interesting points. I know it looks rather boring, but it isn’t. Contrary to the way it looks it is one of the most interesting videos I have seen on the topic of poverty. It also offers fresh perspective on hand-outs.
(((Clearly this video is done from an American perspective; however, it does not differ in any clear way from Canada that I could see. I am wondering how it differs in other countries, if at all?)))
Tiny House Ontario 
I thought it was an excellent concept and website. It’s very encouraging to finally see this in Canada and in Ontario at that! it would be wonderful to see a community of tiny/small affordable houses.
(It’s so true that the middle class is being squeezed out; soon we’ll be more like the US with a very wealthy class and so many more poor people.)
From the Q&A, it sounds like you won’t ever be able to live in your tiny house full time because it’s on a pad, not wheels. How will you get around that?
I hope you are right Hazel. I would not be happy if I am.
As well, the facts that website has is not exactly accurate. THO is a legal structure. True I can’t live there full time as the by laws currently exist, but I am not there yet anyway, so I will hope change has come by the time I am ready. If it has not, I shall have to snowbird in the winter, not a bad idea for a senior anyway!
I so agree about snowbirding! Our little homebuilt house in a field in PEC is great for 3 seasons but for 5 years we’ve been going south in our little Casita. It’s a good lifestyle!
We picked THIS crazy winter to stay home! Rural living is difficult with so much snow, and being housebound in hibernation mode is just not healthy. We hope to break the Casita free of its snow and ice chains and escape to the Keys for April.
You must be looking forward to spring and getting back to your THO.
Laura, have you heard about Smart Communities Ontario?! In Kingston!
http://wwppss.wix.com/smart
Yes I have. I really love the idea of tiny house communities and I hope this is legitimate. But personally I find this page to be a bit like an infomercial. There is no name attached to it that I can see. They don’t seem to have a tiny house of their own but they at one point lived in an RV. I also find the tone of the page disturbing threatening. I have NO association with them.