community

Tag: community

woman facing a pedestrian bridge into a forest
CategoriesLifestyle,  Tiny Homes

Little Women

by Big Calm

On our social media channels – particularly Twitter – we keep tabs on some of the biggest trends nudging people towards what we’re building at Big Calm.

Of course, the biggest one is the COVID-19 pandemic and how it forced both a shift towards remote work and a reckoning with our mental well-beings.

Climate change is another macro force that has things like gardening, prepping, and regional food security coming up more often in casual conversation.

But another significant movement that’s largely gone under the radar is just how popular tiny house living is amongst women. According to Classic Building Sales, more than 64% of tiny house owners are women. Web forums indicate, and many builders confirm, that women are the ones driving the surging sales of premium tiny houses on wheels (THoWs).

We’re seeing three main reasons for this: lifestyle (design), life event (affordability), and life stage (communal independence).

Life Style

Some of the best designers and builders have gravitated towards tiny houses. The remarkable quality and ingenuity of today’s premium THoWs is being profiled and celebrated on Instagram, Pinterest, and Youtube – especially amongst younger women and couples embracing a minimalist yet stylish aesthetic. Related bonus: According to iPropertyManagement, moving to a tiny home can decrease a household’s ecological footprint by 45%.

Life Event

Tiny houses are regularly associated with affordable housing – and there is a massive opportunity for cities to go tiny in meaningful ways. But even at the premium end of tinies, units are significantly less expensive – on average, less than one-fifth! – than getting a mortgage for traditional house or condo. And this is resonating for women on the flipside of a major life event – such as a divorce, the death of spouse, or the last child leaving the nest. Tiny homes offer a simpler, independent, and more affordable mid-life option.

Life Stage

While many people think of tiny homes as something only 20-somethings want, the market says otherwise and is showing significant engagement from those who are older. According to Restoring Simple (pre-pandemic), 23% of 35-54-year-olds and 15% of those over 55-years-old would seriously consider moving into a tiny home. There is a coming wave of retirees interested in leaving the nest themselves and finding a community that provides friendship, activity, safety, snow shovelling, and dog-sitting.

Ross Chapin wrote the book on Pocket Neighborhoods, describing them as “…settings where nearby neighbors can easily know one another, where empty nesters and single householders with far-flung families can find friendship or a helping hand nearby, and where children can have shirttail aunties and uncles just beyond their front gate.” That’s our goal at Big Calm.

For more on this, take inspiration from some of these great stories:

Photo by Jake Melara on Unsplash

white neon sign that says Do Something Great
CategoriesLifestyle

The Space Between

by Big Calm

Surrounded by boxes of what we’re taking to B.C., it doesn’t feel like we’re really “living” in Calgary anymore. There’s still a month until we move, and it’s as though we’re somewhere in between.

It’s given us a lot of time to think about what we want to do with Big Calm. The first objective is to finish the Shangri-loft, so we can move in. I want our plans for both Big Calm and the Shangri-loft to be guided by the principles and ethics of permaculture, so we are thinking about ways to efficiently capture and store energy (solar panels, solar thermal, batteries, electric generators, etc.) while ensuring there are redundancies in place. 

Here in Calgary, we are in a condo building with 47 units, but we hardly know anyone – I certainly wouldn’t feel comfortable reaching out to a neighbour if we needed anything. We’re surrounded by people, but there is no community. We decided that we want to build one at Big Calm, and have established our vision: 

To create an ecologically sustainable, self-reliant tiny home community, guided by the ethics of permaculture, and strengthened by collaboration, mutual support and the diversity and skills of its members.

We will call the Shangri-loft home while we establish the first phase of Big Calm, after which the Shangri-loft will serve as a shared community space. We plan to incorporate other elements, including other community gathering spaces, food garden beds, a greenhouse and eventually, a food forest. 

There is a lot to consider, and we want to be thoughtful in approach. We can’t wait to share more (per Geoff Lawton: 100 hours of thinking for 1 hour of work). 

Have ideas for us? Drop us a line!

Photo by Clark Tibbs on Unsplash

community of people in forest watching a sunset
CategoriesLifestyle

New Life at the End of the World

by Big Calm

It’s the end of the world as we know it, and I (wanna) feel fine.

But I don’t. Far from it. 

News of natural – as well as very unnatural – disasters is rampant. We’re inundated with reports of war, terrorism, wildfires, and drought. Seeking peace of mind, I find myself devising ways to save our ailing planet, only to realize the futility.

Perhaps selfishly, I begin to worry about what the future will look like, especially as the situation becomes more dire. Where do I want to be and what people would I like to be surrounded by when it “all goes down”?

What I know is that I don’t want to be in a city of one-million-plus people fighting over bottled water and the last bag of chips at the supermarket. Am I catastrophizing? Maybe. Maybe not.

I refocus on what I can control. It turns out that it isn’t much, but it’s enough.

What I CAN do is create a life that offers security in a very uncertain world. We’re taught at an early age of the three basic human needs – food/water, shelter and clothing. I think it’s time to go back to basics and do whatever I can to ensure these needs will continue to be met. I’ll feel a lot more comfortable knowing I have a reliable water source, the ability to grow (some of) my own food and generate an energy supply, all with the support of a community of like-minded people who will look out for one another.

I don’t know about you, but approaching the future empowered by self-sufficiency and with the support of a community sounds a lot better than being robbed for my last Cliff bar.

Photo by Daan Stevens on Unsplash.