After A Week Long Send Off, My Round the World Trip kicked off with eight days in Maui visiting my sister Sarah who has split her time between Hawaii and Alaska for many years. What an epic way to start this adventure! There was mist falling when my sister greeted me at the Kahului airport on Maui a week ago, so she teased me about bringing the rain from the mainland. We headed straight for Paia where she presented me with a young coconut and a lei, accompanied by the chant for the gifting-of-a-lei.
A number of circumstances collided recently to compel me to move the Lucky Penny to my property in Walla Walla where I have a ground bound small house called Valencia Cottage. So on Tuesday trusted tiny house movers Linh and Stephanie Pham helped me move the Lucky Penny safely from Portland to my place in Walla Walla.
As I packed up recently in preparation to travel cross country in my Honda Fit, I did some downsizing… It was harder than it had been during my last couple of moves because this time I had more stuff. I’d been living in a bigger space…My apartment was a studio, but it was still about 6 times bigger than the Lucky Penny! I talked with several people about the experience and a handful of them said “oh my goodness, I need to do more of that!” So I’ve decided to offer a 6-week Downsizing Tune Up…
Well, that was a nice 48 hours of elation before the details came out about Portland's Declared Stay on Tiny House Evictions! Turns out there's a limit of one tiny house or RV per residence, which means no tiny house communities. Oh, sadness! In a nutshell, while the city is figuring out permanent regulations regarding tiny houses, they won't enforce Title 29.50.050 (which prohibits occupation of recreational vehicles) as long as:
Yesterday Portland City Commissioner Chloe Eudaly declared a stay on evicting people from tiny houses, RVs, and tents on private property! It has been illegal for people to occupy tiny homes in Portland, OR according to 29.50.050 Illegal Residential Occupancy, a snippet of code in the Portland Maintenance Code. Portland declared a state of emergency for housing two years ago and there was a recognition that it was backwards to be kicking people out of the affordable housing options they'd created for themselves. So yesterday Commissioner Eudaly agreed to Leaven Community's request that we be supported as we step out of the shadows. She announced they'll work with us to figure out a long-term regulatory solution and meanwhile they're going to stop enforcing Title 29.
