John McCain just threw it in. What a joke of a campaign.

I like creative housing alternatives. And, okay, so maybe Snow Crash actually predicted storage units converted to housing …

I came across this article on CNN: “Shipping containers could be ‘dream’ homes for thousands.”

The house faces two constraints: designing in only 320 square feet and keeping the price to around $8,000 to be affordable for the average worker at maquiladoras, manufacturing plants in Mexico along the U.S. border, McCarthy said.

The partners looked at clever designs for small condos and lofts, travel trailers and even private jet planes, adapting ideas they felt would work.

“We started with a kitchen and bathroom because they’re the most necessary and most basic ingredients of a home,” McCarthy said. They designed a galley-style kitchen with a stove, sink, refrigerator and dinette, and a 48-square-foot bathroom with a pedestal sink, shower and commode. Adjacent to the kitchen is a bunk area for children; separate sleeping quarters for the owners lie behind the bathroom wall.

The house may be sparse by U.S. standards, but Nava said it’s a huge improvement in safety, security and health over where many now live.

When drawings and color pictures of the prototype were shown around a poor Juarez neighborhood, people said, “You know it’d be like a dream to live in one of these,” Nava said. “You know, just the thought of having nice fresh air ventilating through the house, a large bed … a normal kitchen and a safe home that locks and closes each night was more than appealing.”

Annen cites modern architectural design, with bare metal and piping. “This would fit right in any major city,” he said.

What a great idea! And not just for the slums of Mexico, either.

I pay an astronomical sum for a 400-square foot studio apartment in Northwest DC. I’ll probably be renting for the next several years, as the idea and the expense of buying a place in DC is like waaaay over anything I think I’ll be able to afford between now and my next several annual raises, and, yeah, I know the $8k price tag is unrealistic in this city …

Still, if you could get a co-op to buy some land in DC, and stack some of these ontop of each other, have some nice architectural framework to go over them and look creative and have sturdy staircases and elevators and what not — wouldn’t that be cool to have the infrastructure of a building where you could plug and unplug the living modules?! — you might be able to keep prices low or, no, this is just a pipe dream.

Oh, did I say 400 square feet? When you take out my 64-square foot closet, the wasted space in the foyer, the odd nook in the kitchen I can barely squeeze into and can’t fit anything into, the actual living space (not including the kitchen proper and the bathroom) — the space for bookshelves and couches and futons — is maybe 150 square feet. So, really, cutting down the overall space of my living area by 80 square feet wouldn’t bother me too much.

Anyway. Back to work.