Research conducted at Kansas State University shows that tiny house villages create a sense of community, are environmentally friendly, encourage people to live healthy lifestyles, and offer safe and affordable homes for the masses. This is why housing experts hope the idea takes off and spreads nationwide in the not too distant future, reports The Wichita Eagle.

Tiny homes, defined as abodes that take up less than 1,000 square feet, currently make up very little of the real estate market. Surveys done in 2015 by the National Association of Realtors indicate that just 1% of home buyers were interested in living in a tiny home, but the researchers who did the study at Kansas State University believe this may change, and soon.

Researcher Julia Irwin said, “We think this lifestyle can improve one’s health, including meeting people’s needs for relationships, creating a wonderful sense of community, promoting physical activity through the need to walk to urban businesses and maintaining community gardens, not to mention providing an affordable option for housing.”

Obviously, a lot of benefits can be derived from living tiny, but zoning laws nationwide have often been a stumbling block to the development of tiny house communities. Guidelines set in many cities and counties do not encourage small houses, mostly mobile homes, because others living in the community might see them as “low class.” However, housing experts believe that the groundswell of passion many have for these tiny properties will change the way people think about them, for the better.

“Tiny houses are thought about differently; they are usually seen as a middle or even upper-middle-class type of housing,” said Irvin. The Kansas State researchers have plans to study particular tiny villages to see if they can determine how to harness the trend as an answer to affordable housing for those in need. So, in the future you may see a housing development getting underway in your community, but instead of it being full of contemporary McMansions, it might be rows and rows of charming tiny little houses.

Check out this Tiny House Community in Portland, OR.

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