The
Just over three years ago, Labaux was addicted
to drugs and lived with his abusive ex-boyfriend, the
subject of his book, who nearly killed him in a fit of anger.
Labaux fled to the safety of his family home for a few
months, but he was deeply depressed until he started help-
ing build his tiny house, which he worked on for 410 hours.
“Working on my house saved my life,” he says. It’s
been essential to his growth since then.
Homes are essential to a person’s wellbeing. But
housing is expensive, especially in Eugene, where supply
issues, a lack of diversity in home types, and rigid rent
and ownership models make affording a place to live a
challenge. Some local groups are trying to help.
THE HOUSING AFFORDABILITY CRISIS
Labaux’s house is affordable. It’s part of Emerald
Village Eugene, a tiny house community built by
SquareOne Villages, a Eugene organization that builds
homes for people who would otherwise struggle to find
a place to live.
But affordable houses like his are rare.
Median sale price for homes in the Eugene area is
$301,100, according to Zillow. From 2013 to 2017, home
sale prices climbed $213,000 to $281,000.
Median household income, however, was only
$47,489 during this time, according to Census Bureau
data. So, for the median earner, it was — and is — nearly
impossible to afford the down payment on a home.
Others can’t even afford a rental agreement.
Median gross rent from 2013 to 2017 in Eugene was
$956, according to Census Bureau data. Median rent
is now $1,595, according to Zillow. Oregon’s minimum
PRIDE issue
for many. Others who can’t save money for a rental
agreement are left on the street.
SquareOne project director Andrew Heben, who
lives in a tiny home at Emerald Village, says housing
affordability is the primary root of homelessness.
Many people believe that drug abuse and mental
health issues cause homelessness, but Heben insists
that these problems often stem from living on the
street, not the other way around.
Hill agrees, noting that people often turn to drugs
as a way to maintain a sliver of comfort when they don’t
have a place to live.
“You cannot underestimate the value of housing and
a place we would call home. It’s actually a very important
part of our mental health, and our physical health,” Hill
says.
THE HOUSING AFFORDABILITY CRISIS
But why is shelter — a basic human need — unaffordable
in Eugene? Local and national housing policies are deeply
flawed, architects and planners say. A major cause of
housing unaffordability is a lack of diversity in the types
and ownership models of homes in the U.S.
“The way we do housing in this country is insane,”
says Jeff Albanese, SquareOne’s program director,
speaking to future public policy planners at a class at
the University of Oregon College of Design on May 22.
Eugene has very few types of homes. Most housing in
the U.S. is built for the upper-middle class, says project
director Heben. The options — large, single-family homes
and student apartments — are unaffordable for many.
Rigid housing ownership and rent models are also a
The villagers pay $250 to $350 every month. Some
of this money goes towards maintaining and improving
the village, but $50 goes into savings funds for the
residents. This money helps people pay for new rentals
if they choose to move out.
Essentially, they gain partial ownership of their
house, which they can sell back when they leave.
The system, somewhere between renting and
owning, maximizes benefits for the residents.
The houses are small but are designed to feel
spacious. A commons area, which is near completion,
will contain a communal kitchen, washer, dryer and
meeting area. These shared facilities mitigate costs and
promote a sense of community.
The residents largely manage their own affairs and
decide who moves in when space opens up.
Heben says SquareOne is finding a template that
could be replicated throughout the country. The
organization is building another village in Cottage
Grove, using a mix of private and public funds.
Heben is sharing his affordable housing toolbox with
nonprofits all over the country. He’s also consulting
for municipal governments, which are interested in
building their own affordable villages.
OTHER LOCAL SOLUTIONS
SquareOne has been successful in providing
affordable housing in Eugene, but it’s just one of many
solutions.
CASA of Oregon’s Manufactured Housing Coopera-
tive Development Center helps people living in mobile
home communities to cooperatively buy their parks.
This transforms people from tenants to owners, saving
them money in the process; their mortgages are often
lower than their previous rents.
Homes for Good, Lane County’s affordable housing
program, is set to build the Commons on MLK, a
fully supported 51-studio-apartment complex for
the chronically homeless on Martin Luther King Jr.
Boulevard. This publicly funded project will cost $13
million, but it targets people who regularly cost the
city tax dollars by circling through jails and emergency
rooms.
“The city is already spending more money than
it would on housing by shuffling people around. You
don’t need new money; you can just change how you use
funds,” says Gail Parrish, who works for CASA.
THE ENTREPRENEUR
GILBERT HAYES
wage stayed below $10 an hour until July 2017 — a
monthly wage of $1,600 before taxes.
Minimum wage is now only 75 cents higher — meaning
an income of $1,720 per month. Assuming that getting a
rental requires a deposit of one month’s rent, it would
have cost $1,912 to move in from 2013 to 2017. It would
now cost $3,190.
Even people with jobs may not earn enough to rent
an average home.
Dan Hill is an architect and one of the founding
members of SquareOne. He donates his time and talents
to design affordable houses because he recognizes the
gravity of the problem.
“It’s not just an affordability issue. I would say it’s an
affordability crisis,” he says.
Expensive housing makes paying bills difficult
E U G E N E W E E K LY . C O M
problem. To buy a house, people need to save enough
money for large down payments. This makes buying im-
possible for low-income people. If they choose to rent,
they lose hundreds or thousands of dollars every month
— money that could be going toward buying a home.
SquareOne is one local group combating this
homogeneity in housing. “I’m an advocate for creating
more diversity in housing. I’ve chosen to pursue this
one,” Heben says.
SQUAREONE VILLAGES
EVE, where Labaux lives, is SquareOne’s second
project. It was all privately funded. Local architects
such as Fifield and Hill designed and built the houses
pro bono.
Back at EVE, Gilbert Hayes, a gray-haired man with a
gentle voice, lives in a tiny home with his 8-year old dog,
Sadie. A prominent sign hanging on the outside of the
house reads “Gib’s Digs.”
He spent a few years bouncing between friends’
houses and a Winnebago before he found his way to
EVE. Hill, the architect who built the house and became
friends with Hayes while consulting with him about
design details, says Hayes was glum during his time
without an address.
But now Hayes laughs easily and is bursting with
ideas to improve life for his community.
He and other villagers raised $5,000 for EVE by
selling clear plastic bags outside of Autzen Stadium
before Ducks games. The bags are required to
bring items into UO sporting events. Eve McClure, a
volunteer for EVE, fronted the money for the bags. She
bought them online and had SquareOne’s logo printed
on them.
Hayes also gives small loans to help people living at
EVE from funds he earned by returning glass bottles,
and he has plenty of other business plans.
But the best thing he’s found at EVE is love. His
partner is a woman who lives a few houses away in the
village.
Hayes and Labaux are both flourishing, but most
people who need affordable housing aren’t getting it. ■
A U G U S T
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