<
https://reasonstobecheerful.world/home-building-factory-affordable-housing-crisis/>
"In Buena Vista, Colorado, there’s a factory that builds houses. Not
double-wides or A-frame kits, but bonafide, full-size, single-family homes. The
factory, home of the manufacturing company Fading West, is immense. Like a
giant air hockey table, its floor is covered with air jets powerful enough to
move whole rooms. And right now, the facility is churning out up to two homes
per week.
Housing experts have toyed with the idea of modular housing as a solution to
the affordable housing crisis for decades. In the 1970s, the federal government
dumped millions of dollars in subsidies into modular home factories across the
US. But the subsidies couldn’t change the fact that the technology wasn’t good
enough to make or move the homes efficiently. Then there was the problem of the
connotation. Prefabricated homes were often associated with mobile home parks,
which many middle-class Americans considered shoddily made and visually
unattractive. For decades, “prefab” was a bit of a dirty word.
But today, manufacturing technology has come a long way, and brands like Fading
West have revolutionized both the method and look of factory-built homes.
Fading West’s, for example, are indistinguishable from traditional, stick-built
housing — except for the fact that its factory can build a two-bedroom unit in
nine days flat.
With that kind of speed and efficiency, some experts are touting modular homes
as the future of affordable housing. If Fading West has its way, that future
will start in Buena Vista."
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
