New Jersey ranks as the worst for this hot housing trend

We happen to be the most densely populated state in the country. That presents some challenges in living here but most of us have managed to adapt. One of the challenges would likely be housing.

So, one would think that New Jersey would be a good place for tiny houses.

Very small dwellings have been around forever, but the tiny house movement took off here in the U.S. in the last decade.

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TV shows are dedicated to the trend along with a slew online sites with information on how to build and/or live and adapt in a "tiny house".

Of all 50 states New Jersey ranks dead last for tiny house living. You would think since we're so densely populated, we'd be a perfect place for them. Not at all. Why? You guessed it...GOVERNMENT RED TAPE!

Every municipality has its own set of rules and regulations for housing and building. On top of that we have a large portion of the state covered by "Pinelands" regulations.

I found out how challenging those regs can be when I tried to put an apartment on top of my detached garage. I was told, "don't even think about it, unless you have loads of time and money to waste."

The website lawnstarter.com conducted a survey of the most and least tiny-house-friendly states in the country in 2024. Here are the worst places for tiny homes.

🏡 New Jersey
🏡 New York
🏡 Alaska
🏡 Louisiana
🏡 North Dakota

In case you're looking to relocate and would like to find a state that is tiny-house-friendly, here are the top five states.

🏡 Vermont
🏡 Kentucky
🏡 Arkansas
🏡 Maine
🏡 Minnesota

In the study they compared the 50 states on the legality of constructing a tiny home.

They also looked at the suitability of building in an urban setting based on average yard acreages and in a remote environment based on off-grid lifestyle-friendliness, a separate LawnStarter ranking that consists of 23 key factors.

While we have perfect conditions for such a trend to take hold here, once again it's the aggressive and invasive nature of our government to put the brakes on that.

Opinions expressed in the post above are those of New Jersey 101.5 talk show host Dennis Malloy only.

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