In reaction to this
article (
via), remembered myself thinking big on the way home a week or two ago--how much money would it cost overall and per-person to house all the homeless people in America?
The article asserts some facts:
- 3.5 million people without homes each year in America
- $10,000 per unit, on average, for the structures at Second Wind Cottages, a tiny-house village for the chronically homeless in the town of Newfield, NY, outside of Ithaca
- $200,000 per unit for a typical development for extremely low-income housing
- $10 million per year in costs of homelessness to taxpayers, in Austin, Texas
So, doing the math, to house everyone in America would cost (at a minimum):
$10,000 (10 * 10^3) per unit * 3.5 million (3.5 * 10^6) people
= $35 billion (35,000,000,000, or 35 * 10^9)
How much does that amount to, per-person, in America? As of this post, the
Census population clock reports 317,592,620 Americans:
$35 billion / 317,592,620 Americans
= $110.20 / American
That seems to represent a ballpark figure of housing all the homeless in America...a one-time sunk cost for building out the infrastructure.
Some huge caveats:
- $10,000 gets you the cost of building materials
- All construction labor donated by volunteers (hundreds? thousands?)
- In other locations:
- Costs, in some cases, offset with grants, government funding, and individual donations
- Architecture and design firms might need to contribute design services pro bono
- Supportive governments lease land to the housing for $1/year
- General concerns:
- Must work together with businesses and landowners to address impact on local businesses and homeowners
- "Unique legal zoning limitations and barriers that limit where tiny houses can be stationed."
It costs 9x as much (as it does in Quixote Village, in Olympia, Washington, where units cost $88,000):
$308 billion, instead--that leads to $308 billion / 317,592,620 Americans =
$969.80 / American
It costs 20x as much (as the average case):
$700 billion, instead--that leads to $700 billion / 317,592,620 Americans =
$2204.08 / American
So, it seems like a one-time cost to house the 3.5 million homeless Americans would amount to somewhere between $110--$2,204 per American.
But--let's say not everyone wants to pay. What then?
Note: I use the following rough and arbitrary labels to gauge American participation rates (fill in left-wing, center-left, center-right, and right wing assignments to the percentages as you prefer)
- 100% participation
- 75% participation
- 50% participation
- 25% participation
My rough guesstimates:
- $10,000 units: $110-$441 per American (3.5 million homeless * $10,000 = $35 billion)
- 100% participation = $35 billion / 317,592,620 Americans = $110.20 / American
- 75% participation = $35 billion / 238,194,465 Americans = $146.94 / American
- 50% participation = $35 billion / 158,796,310 Americans = $220.41 / American
- 25% participation = $35 billion / 79,398,155 Americans = $440.82 / American
- $90,000 units: $970-$3879 per American (3.5 million homeless * $90,000 = $308 billion)
- 100% participation = $308 billion / 317,592,620 Americans = $969.80 / American
- 75% participation = $308 billion / 238,194,465 Americans = $1293.06 / American
- 50% participation = $308 billion / 158,796,310 Americans = $1939.59 / American
- 25% participation = $308 billion / 79,398,155 Americans = $3879.18 / American
- $200,000 units: $2204-$8816 per American (3.5 million homeless * $200,000 = $700 billion)
- 100% participation = $700 billion / 317,592,620 Americans = $2204.08 / American
- 75% participation = $700 billion / 238,194,465 Americans = $2938.78 / American
- 50% participation = $700 billion / 158,796,310 Americans = $4408.16 / American
- 25% participation = $700 billion / 79,398,155 Americans = $8816.33 / American
My opinion: when it comes down to brass tacks, the statistics in the table above show why homeless people still go without--I am guessing the number of people willing to actually contribute falls somewhere in the 25-50% range (if that), and, at an average cost of $200,000 per unit of housing, it would--at a minimum--cost the 25%-50% of Americans who care ~$4408-$8816 to accomplish. It is too much. Add in a 1% annual maintenance cost after the initial outlay, or $44.08-$88.16...worth it?
However--what if it only cost those Americans who care a one-time cost of $220-$441, plus a 1% annual maintenance cost of $2.20-$4.40? Now that represents an exciting, tractable change--almost NPR-contribution territory! Imagine this coupled with a united consensus to treat the problem.
Anyway, my question, answered. : o )
UPDATE: some additional notes, from comments at the article:
- "The majority of homeless people in the United States are disabled veterans and children and their mothers fleeing domestic violence" (they provide the following source)
- "minimum square footage laws"--apparently these limit housing options
- Frequent inspections? At least at first?
- The Hacker News post also has a ton of intelligent insights from various angles
