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You might recall an years ago about 鈥渢iny houses鈥� where a confidant owner decided to move himself and his girlfriend into a 70sqft home. I remember having a good laugh when the owner calls out the 鈥渃hallenges鈥� he and his ex-girlfriend encountered. Seventy square feet!

While not realistic for the modern American family, the concept of size is worth examining as homes under 1,000sqft seem to be gaining renewed popularity. Smart developers from San Francisco to Vancouver, BC are proving that small homes can be big business. With the era of sprawling development and supersized houses passing, in-fill models of development on urban lots present major opportunities for the future. There is an unstoppable demographic shift toward smaller households that demands a new product 鈥� one that is efficient, affordable, and flexible. That demographic shift is proving that in the last 50 years, the average size of a single family home has more than doubled while the size of the average American family has decreased. In addition, the US Census also indicates that households without children has grown from 55% (1970), to 67% (2000) and anticipates 73% of all households in 2030 will be homes without children.

鈥淪maller鈥� in this case isn鈥檛 just about meeting demographic trends and planning for complete and connected neighborhoods, it鈥檚 also about affordability and energy independence (I鈥檒l elaborate in a future post). For a look at a few Oregon projects that align with these targets, see , and . It might surprise you, but Portland is at the forefront of this housing shift, and all eyes are on Rose City for the premier space efficient housing summit of the year: .

This one-day housing summit will challenge architects, developers, builders, remodelers, urban designers, policy makers and real estate professionals to craft strategies for this growing housing market. Participants will learn about successfully built projects, financing, space-efficient design, incentives and policy initiatives. This is a great time to explore the leading edge of the housing movement鈥� where design, cost, and care for the environment intersect with the needs of today鈥檚 families. For more information on Build Small | Live Large, visit

The next housing trend is quickly arriving 鈥� will you be ready?