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Tiny House Friendly Town

What the town of Spur, TX has done is thrilling for the tiny house movement. The mayor has declared Spur as a “Tiny House Friendly Town” and the city council is finalizing an ordinance that makes tiny houses legal. They are so organized, in fact, that they have a website dedicated to this mission. We hope to spread the story about Spur to all corners of the world. Not only because we want Spur to succeed but because what they are doing is a model for hundreds (perhaps thousands) of other small towns.

Big and important changes are afoot in the complex world of tiny houses and codes and this is a fantastic example of that. In the interview below we speak with David Alsbury, a lovely gentleman who is passionate about this mission. World, meet David, the sweet town of Spur, Texas, and his cohorts, Randy, and Corey Witters.

1. Thank you so much for taking the time to do this interview David! Would you please introduce yourself? My name is David Alsbury, age 54, former CEO of two dot.coms and entrepreneurial founder/co-founder of 7 or 8 tech companies over the last 25 years. I was raised in the north woods of Minnesota. My business career began in Minneapolis and extended to LA, NYC, etc.

2. What led you to Spur, TX? I discovered some family history tied to the founding of Texas and decided to explore. I found out that an old accomplice from the tech boom of the nineties had set up in Spur and just had to see him and find out why. He talked me into moving here too. Thing is, the town is like so many others in the midwest, shrinking due to low farm work demand, (machines pick the cotton nowadays). Now it’s smaller but oh, so peaceful and beautiful as it sits on the plains surrounded by canyons and cotton fields. I discovered some family history tied to the founding of Texas and decided to explore. I found out that an old accomplice from the tech boom of the nineties had set up in Spur and just had to see him and find out why. He talked me into moving here too. Thing is, the town is like so many others in the midwest, shrinking due to low farm work demand, (machines pick the cotton nowadays). Now it’s smaller but oh, so peaceful and beautiful as it sits on the plains surrounded by canyons and cotton fields.

3. Do you live in a tiny house? What is your personal interest/passion for tiny house living? I’ve been following the tiny house movement since Jay Shafer started Tumbleweed Tiny Houses. My grand plan was to find acreage in the Sierras, build a tiny house and disappear. I’ve always wanted to be low impact in how I live, but my business career didn’t lend itself to that very well, so I wanted to re-orient myself now that I’m free to do so. I didn’t end up in a tiny house here because there are too many beautiful old brick buildings on main street sitting empty., I decided to make a loft out one of them instead, (you would not believe what I paid for the building). Figured it was low-impact to reuse an existing building with great thermal mass (16″ thick brick walls).



4. What did Spur do to become a tiny house friendly town? Was it hard getting ordinances to support tiny housing? So, at the head of main street sits a little old pioneer house with an American flag flying. The towns people are the inheritors of a cowboy/rancher/farmer tradition that goes back a long way. Folks here are serious about self sufficiency, every truck you see, (although it’s often a tractor) going down main street has a flatbed with welding machine, dog and fencing tools. A bunch of the old houses in town are tiny, so tiny houses as we know them now are not a novel concept to the inhabitants. By the way, the most expensive house for sale in town is an 80’s built, sprawling brick rambler that would sell for $400,000 in the San Fernando valley. It’s listed at $65,000, you can get it for $55,000! So, at the head of main street sits a little old pioneer house with an American flag flying. The towns people are the inheritors of a cowboy/rancher/farmer tradition that goes back a long way. Folks here are serious about self sufficiency, every truck you see, (although it’s often a tractor) going down main street has a flatbed with welding machine, dog and fencing tools. A bunch of the old houses in town are tiny, so tiny houses as we know them now are not a novel concept to the inhabitants. By the way, the most expensive house for sale in town is an 80’s built, sprawling brick rambler that would sell for $400,000 in the San Fernando valley. It’s listed at $65,000, you can get it for $55,000!

The ordinance request went something like this: Randy Adams, a well respected entrepreneur and mechanical genius in town, (can fix anything and founder of an innovative roofing application machine/system) got the idea and talked to individual council members and the mayor. He described the idea of declaring Spur a tiny house friendly town and everyone was immediately intrigued. The key is small town, young people moving away, infrastructure for 3,000 but supporting only 900 or so, everyone concerned about maintaining their town, (of which they are immensely proud) and wanting a strategy to do so that also includes bringing the right kind of people. Well, the profile of 20 to 40 something, tech savvy, self sufficiency minded, energetic, polite people fits right in there, so, no big problem there.

5. What are local reactions to this new development? So far, so good! There’s actual excitement brewing as it’s something new around here. Folks think it’s a great idea and are somewhat bewildered at the idea that they’re doing anything special. The town demographics are pretty simple, half hispanic in origin, half caucasian great-grandchildren of pioneers. It’s Texas, so everyone has grown up accustomed to a mixed population proposition, (the old term from the Republic days was Texican). There are at least ten churches, the town is central to Dickens county, which itself has 2,700 people in 900 square miles! There’s the Lawrence Brothers Grocery, Rowel’s department store, Dana’s pharmacy, Chastains Ace hardware, The Dixie Dog, the Turnaround Cafe, Gloria’s and Ron’s pizza place, the feed store, etc. And Jerry, a retired systems manager from the postal service, can fix your iPhone or PC in his shop/loft in one of the old buildings. Basically, it’s as close to Mayberry as you can get without Don Knotts.

6. Do you see what is happening in Spur as a potential model for other towns? I absolutely do! And here’s why: small towns are dying, they cost so little to live in that millenials can’t comprehend it, but millennials are exactly who the small towns want and need. There’s a fiber-optic trunk into town, the Caprock Telephone co-op can wire a tiny house with fiber! I have friends in San Francisco who are still on copper! Small towns have everything going for them, if people would only take notice. A big crime spree is some kids breaking a window or scribbling on a wall. OK, there is the occasional duel over a woman or a horse…that’s a joke…kind of… Anyway, you’re looking at towns that want to grow, or at least resuscitate, and they need young people to take an interest, (and you hear that a lot, first question I got asked when I moved here was, “Did you bring any babies?). Lubbock, TX is a 300,000 person, fast growing city that is 70 miles away. I can drive that in an hour and be eating Sushi at the Hyashi Grill, having seen maybe one car every mile on the way. We have around one million potential customers within a two hour radius for all kinds of light manufacturing/tech/ professional services, but who’s gonna offer those things? People who move to towns like these and start something are well regarded indeed, if not seen as full blown, heroic figures, as long as they’re polite! I absolutely do! And here’s why: small towns are dying, they cost so little to live in that millenials can’t comprehend it, but millennials are exactly who the small towns want and need. There’s a fiber-optic trunk into town, the Caprock Telephone co-op can wire a tiny house with fiber! I have friends in San Francisco who are still on copper! Small towns have everything going for them, if people would only take notice. A big crime spree is some kids breaking a window or scribbling on a wall. OK, there is the occasional duel over a woman or a horse…that’s a joke…kind of… Anyway, you’re looking at towns that want to grow, or at least resuscitate, and they need young people to take an interest, (and you hear that a lot, first question I got asked when I moved here was, “Did you bring any babies?). Lubbock, TX is a 300,000 person, fast growing city that is 70 miles away. I can drive that in an hour and be eating Sushi at the Hyashi Grill, having seen maybe one car every mile on the way. We have around one million potential customers within a two hour radius for all kinds of light manufacturing/tech/

7. What is the advantage/benefit to Spur for changing ordinances to support tiny housing? The benefits are numerous and tied to the demographic of those considering tiny houses, which, as a matter of perception, are concerned, thoughtful, innovative, self-sufficient, practical, freedom loving people.You know, like pioneers! If those folks start moving here, the town grows, in all sorts of ways. So, y’all come on down and see us! (and stay!) Spur is also a wondrous retirement spot with weather better than Florida, 55 average daily temperature in January, 88 degrees outside as I write this in July. There were once over 700 farms in Dickens county which trucked out all kinds of produce. All gone now, but the land and the demand are still there. Austin, one of the fastest growing cities in the country and home to Whole Foods headquarters, is five hours away, Dallas four hours. The benefits are numerous and tied to the demographic of those considering tiny houses, which, as a matter of perception, are concerned, thoughtful, innovative, self-sufficient, practical, freedom loving people.You know, like pioneers! If those folks start moving here, the town grows, in all sorts of ways. So, y’all come on down and see us! (and stay!) Spur is also a wondrous retirement spot with weather better than Florida, 55 average daily temperature in January, 88 degrees outside as I write this in July. There were once over 700 farms in Dickens county which trucked out all kinds of produce. All gone now, but the land and the demand are still there. Austin, one of the fastest growing cities in the country and home to Whole Foods headquarters, is five hours away, Dallas four hours.

8. Are there any tiny houses there currently? There are a bunch of tiny houses in Spur, like there are in small towns everywhere, just not built lately, more like 50 years ago. Seriously, I don’t know how many there are under 500 sq. ft., but a bunch. Which is why the idea of tiny house friendly accommodations doesn’t strike any of the locals as strange.

9. What is your personal involvement with the tiny house movement coming to Spur? My involvement in our tiny house friendly initiative is voluntary and concerned chiefly with evangelizing to the outside world. Randy Adams is the point man, with the growth oriented city council and Mayor offering their full support

10. What is it like to live in Spur? What are land prices like? Spur is peaceful to the point of being sleepy, but that’s what we want to change a bit. When folks are standing around a Texas meetin’ hall, (the back of somebody’s pickup) and discussing the day’s events, the conversation concerns cotton, water, local news, wild hawgs, deer, somebody new in town, etc. Land prices are a whopping $1,000 to $1,500 an acre, but there are two 160 acre parcels outside of town for sale right now at $800 per. A city lot, 50′ wide and 165′ deep, can be bought for around $1,500. Heck, half the town is farmable! The big to do in town is the annual homecoming parade and people who have moved away come back for that! Friday night, six man football at the high school stadium brings everybody out. There is a high quality, K-12 school system that is under-utilized and needs more kids which features new buildings and a dedicated professional staff. The great thing about the community is that everybody has your back. Saturday morning sees the the Helping Hands volunteers cleaning up a retirees yard or a rummage sale sponsored by locals to raise funds for the school, you know, Mayberry.

11. Can people park their tiny houses any old place in Spur or do they need to buy their own land? We have a few enterprising citizens who have turned lots into RV hookups. There are numerous spaces available for under $300 a month. Lots of folks have trailers in their backyards for extra living space, again, no problem.