"The cabins are built without plumbing or electricity, so Vicknair runs an extension cord from the house and makes do with a space heater, electric skillet, small fridge and a couple of lamps. He bought a portable marine toilet that he sets up behind the cabin, and he showers at friends' houses or the gym."

How the Hell is that "off-the-grid"?

Looks kind of neat...maybe I could move my cats into it.

Tim,

A "grid" has straight lines, and implies conformity. An extension cord is squiggly, and suggests improvisation!

The way costs are increasing in Portlandia, many of us may have to move into one of these. Finding a "donor" home with the electricity on may become a problem, however!

It's basically an outdoor guest bedroom. Not really anything new, I stayed in an off-the-books place in someone's backyard like that while I was in college to save on rent.

It's funny that the headline for the post is "Hipster-in-a-box", yet the actual article is mostly about people using them as a place for elderly parents to stay. Because everyone under the age of 35 is a hipster, right?

I am not so sure grandma will be able or wish to successfully squat over a portapotti. Can't wait till those sheds show up in the back yards in LO.

Might be "off the grid" if here is enough roof space for a solar voltaic panel or 4.

The Portland Rescue Mission frequently has RV type trailers and motor homes for sale on their site sometimes as low as $1200. Get one of these and park it in a driveway, or even on the street. Plug it in and hook up water. At least you have a toilet in them for convenience. They are a lot cheaper too. They would kind of make Alameda and Laurelhurst yuppies hurl, but would fit in just fine in Nopo or Foster east.

At first glance these "sheds" seem like good fodder for hipster jokes. On the other hand, there are still a lot of hurting people who do need sensible housing solutions. These examples may not be the answer, but done correctly, perhaps something like this could be a viable solution for some families who need to "circle the wagons" and help each other out.

So as the homeowner, after 6 months, I own the accessory unit? I'd do it.

"The cabins are built without plumbing or electricity, so Vicknair runs an extension cord from the house and makes do with a space heater, electric skillet, small fridge and a couple of lamps."

You can have the splendor of Dignity Village in your own back yard!

I'd love to hear the gymnastics BDS will go thru to justify this zoning violation.

Sounds like a tent with walls.

My grandmother grew up using an outhouse. She will give up her flush toilet when you pry her cold dead hands from the shiny handle.

This is definitely better than being homeless, but it's silly to suggest this is a viable alternative for most adults.

Slackers will embrace it if the alternative requires flipping burgers to pay the rent. Hipsters would cringe at the thought of living in actual poverty.

SKA,

Stop being reasonable; are you new to the intertube? This is a place to whine about government via hyperbole and truthiness. Fall in line please.

Oh, Mister Tee, you forget the crowd. Hipsters are perfectly willing to live in faux poverty, as witnessed by their fascination with small-square-footage housing such as converted shipping containers. Of course, that's not the same as real poverty, as they can always move back home at any time when the weather gets cold and they suddenly get homesick for Mom's Rice Krispies Treats. In the meantime, though, they can always use the 8 x 8 space for bragging rights: "Well, you can have a house, with all of its taxes and stuff. Me, I live in a converted storage shed! It's not as cool as a houseboat or treehouse, but I could put this in a tree if I wanted!"

I don't understand the contention that this should be outlawed in any sane place. On what grounds?

Stenchy's twin brother?

Direct hit, TTR. Years ago when I lived in the Hawthorne District I had a raised deck on the back of my house. You could see into both neighbors yards. I can envision such a structure on a summer evening, awash with PBR empties, and a dozen or so hipsters urinating in the backyard. Lord, I am so lucky to live in the hinterland of North Clackistan. It may be cold, but there isn't a "fixie" for 35 miles...

Thomas, SC....you don't understand why this would be outlawed?
Ther are building and sanitation codes for a reason! Most sensible sane communities enforce these codes to protect people from being hurt, and getting sick. The fact that Portlandia has decided to abandon the reasonable expectation of proper sanitation with regular garbage pick up and disposal is a crime!
If you want to view the consequences of overcrowding, poor sanitation, and no building codes, I suggest you go travel and live in a 3rd world country like Equador, rural India, or some place like Somalia or Mali in Africa.
I venture a guess you wouldn't last 5 minutes in any of those places.

Isnt this how the Baghwan Shree Rajneesh upped his population so he could take over Antelope and Wasco County?
Don't forget how this finally ended up after the salad bar incident.

I've lived in crap holes before, due to circumstances. Once I did it on purpose though. I had a van I converted to a sleeper while traveling in Hawaii.

Solar panels on top that trickle charged a battery. Another battery that fit in a backpack I could charge in about 20 minutes at any Starbucks. With an AC adapter I could run fans, my dvd player, whatever I wanted. I had a bunch of Christmas lights around the top and an easy chair for sleeping.

It was a simple white Chevy cargo van, very stealthy. No on knew I was living in it.

Restrooms were an issue though. I tried to park near a bathroom/shower so I could use the facilities. I'd generally shower at the gym.

Nowadays I'd need a kitchen and bathroom. Without those facilities your life becomes rather chaotic and stressful.

The cabins are built without plumbing or electricity, so Vicknair runs an extension cord from the house and makes do with a space heater, electric skillet, small fridge and a couple of lamps

This is precisely why there are building codes - this setup is a fire hazard and could cause all sorts of electrical problems.

I'm sure Portland will demand excessive permits and neighborhood approval processes in areas where these structures make sense - and waive all requirements in areas where they clearly do NOT make sense.

I've been to Africa, though not Mali or Somalia, dear Portland Native. Indeed, sanitation there is poor. We are nowhere near that, and never will be. There is no clear health and safety issue necessarily presented by the story recounted in this article, and I see considerably more unsanitary things quite often in the US. The idea of banning this seems just as nanny-statish as many of the policies so often decried on this blog.