To the Thesis Committee at Boston Architectural College
Practicing Professional Distance Masters of Architecture Program
Boston, Massachusetts
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Introduction
This type of community, a self sustained homeless community; has been of interest to me for many years... I first read an article, Dignity Village Sets Precedence for Homeless Settlement; in the May 2002 edition of ARCHITECTURE about a community in Portland, Oregon and was intrigued with the comment of community, living conditions, day to day operations of the occupants and techniques used to build and sustain this community.
I first toured the community in October of 2004, where I was inspired by the willingness of this homeless community to help them selves in a manner that involved developing their own sense of belonging, living accommodations, community and re-habitation.
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The Community
This community could become the location, idealism and control point as to how the homeless are viewed and housed......
The housing types although not expected to be the be-all, end-all to the traditional homeless shelter or the typical Las Vegas track home; the units must provide the basic necessities: shelter from the elements, a place to come home to everyday, sense of ownership and sustainable.
This site for this ideal community should not be discarded to the far reaching outskirts of town as the main consternation of the current homeless community is mostly centralized to the downtown area. A few sites have been identified:
1. Downtown area near Bonanza and the Spaghetti bowl (I-15/I-95)
3. Industrial area near Losee and Lake Mead adjacent to I-15
There may also be other sites that are just as qualified or even more qualified that have yet to be explored.
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The LeadershipThe leadership of this community needs to local (originating from the homeless community) with local support from an individual within the business, political or industry community.
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The Community Involvement
The Las Vegas, North Las Vegas and Henderson communities should be supportive or at the minimum non-destructive to the ideal of supporting the homeless community in helping rise their status within the main-stream communities by creating a stepping stone towards full re-integration into the main-stream communities.
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The Ownership
This community, although part of the local jurisdiction and responsible to the ordinances, laws of its governing municipality should also demand from its residence another set of conduct and bylaws to help control the activates, construction appearance and livelihood. As well as provide a larger sense of ownership a part of belonging, as it is truly theirs as they have created it.
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The Community Goals
This community will have an established set of regulations that allow for development of ones progress towards re-introduction into the main-stream community as well as construction and methods regulations.
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The Funding
This community could become self sustained in a sort period of time. The current status of many of homeless is not a blique as many seem. The homeless community is full of fallen potential and untapped potential, many are blue collar workers that fell on hard times and left with nowhere productive to go, others are professionals that tried to make it on their own and their business failed due to a poor financial strategy while others are still yet to have their potential realized...... The beginning will require able and willing support outside the homeless community to help, support and provide at its early stages. Possible areas for financial revenue include: arts and crafts, vehicle repair, other work programs
Research: A Partial Bibliography
HousingDignity Village Sets Precedence for Homeless SettlementsPortland , OregonArchitect/Designer: Mark Lakeman Author: Randy Graggph.; p.47-51; May 2002; ARCHITECTURE (02-49)
Porter-Truax, Mary. Pawn on a Chessboard. Mustang: Tate Publishing, LLC, 2006.
Borchard, Kurt. The Word on the Street: Homeless Men in Las Vegas. Reno: University of Nevada Press, 2005.
Kubler, George. The Art and Architecture of Ancient America, Third Edition: The Mexican, Maya and Andean Peoples. New Haven, Yale University Press, 1984
