Architect Wants To Turn Old Subway Cars Into Housing For Homeless [View all]

[sheshe2]

Now here’s a housing solution we can get on board with.


When a famed Washington, D.C., architect learned of the city’s plan to scrap several fleets of old subway cars, he thought up a better use for the retired models. If Arthur Cotton Moore has his way, some of the outdated Metro cars could be turned into houses for homeless people.


“I thought it was just a terrible waste ― sending all these cars to the junkyard,” Moore, 81, told The Huffington Post.




The city plans to ax three of its old fleets ― several hundred cars in total ― and replace them with newer ones. It has already begun sending some to a junkyard in Baltimore, but it will take years to complete the deliveries, according to The Washington Post.

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The work that the tiny homes would need ― which includes installing prefabricated bathrooms and kitchens ― wouldn’t actually cost that much, Moore insists. He hopes to pitch his idea to the D.C. City Council and thinks it would be a far cheaper homeless program than what’s been offered so far.



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He said the cars are heavy and aerodynamic enough to withstand strong winds. They already have windows, so that’s taken care of. And the doors at either end of the cars could be repurposed as front entrances for each apartment. He’d also add concrete footings in place of the cars’ wheels, City Lab reported.


Moore would install solar panels to provide heat and hot water.





Read More:http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/subway-metro-cars-homeless-housing_us_58d54c0ce4b03787d357f537?knm&

There were 8,350 homeless people in DC last year. I think this is a wonderful idea, it would be a start.