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The Frameless Geodesic Dome I currently live in

rigsomelight.com

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Re: The Frameless Geodesic Dome I currently live in

#111
post #54

If you want to live in a city, it's not the cost of the house that kills you: it's the dirt. In Seattle, where I live, my property tax statement tells me that my (large, nice) house is worth roughly half as much as the land it sits on. Given that these domes don't float, you still need a place to put 'em. If your goal is to opt out of the cost of housing - an evil which this blog post expounds upon at length - your f…

Exactly. This structure basically assumes you're living in the country somewhere. If you're willing to move out to the country, on a programmer's salary you could quickly save enough to pay cash for a smallish, newly constructed home with many modern comforts, such as "rooms".

I moved to Colorado from the SF Bay Area. I'm near Boulder and Denver, and can walk to a dozen restaurants, a grocery store, a bar, multiple cafes, and a big library with free Internet access (oddly enough, almost ALL of the above have free Internet access, now that I think of it -- even the grocery store). And if you like public transit, I'm really close to multiple bus lines, but the city I live in is also very bike friendly.

And I don't have a mortgage on my 2500 sq. ft. house. No living "in the country" necessary. ;) Similar house prices can be had in Denver proper as well, though I'm in more of a suburb.

Programmers can make a lot of money. If you don't waste it all, it's not hard to save up a lot. I only do paid work about half the time now; the other half I work on my own projects.

Re: The Frameless Geodesic Dome I currently live in

#112
Is this significantly cheaper than a standard frame structure with comparable amenities?

I priced out the materials for building a small "office shed" with no electricity or running water, and came up with a price tag of something like $2000 for a 10x10 structure, assuming completely conventional 2x4's, fiberglass insulation, and off-the-shelf doors and windows. I've not yet followed through on it, but I feel pretty confident that you could build a pretty serviceable pretty conventional structure for not-too-much-money in not-too-much-time.

Re: The Frameless Geodesic Dome I currently live in

#113
post #54

If you want to live in a city, it's not the cost of the house that kills you: it's the dirt. In Seattle, where I live, my property tax statement tells me that my (large, nice) house is worth roughly half as much as the land it sits on. Given that these domes don't float, you still need a place to put 'em. If your goal is to opt out of the cost of housing - an evil which this blog post expounds upon at length - your f…

This is exactly my dilemma. I've come up with numerous novel ways to live cheaply but all of them require a plot of land which always ruins the budget. Further compounding the problem is few banks will loan money for unbuilt land. Strangely the land is worth more than houses but in the eyes of a bank the house is what you secure the loan against.

Not true! I purchased 5 acres in Southwestern CO (with mountain views!) for 2 grand in cash. I built a small cabin, and program out of it. But, it lacks luxuries for my many "projects", so now I'm building a house.

http://frank.lovecch.io/projects/walden-ranch.html

Re: The Frameless Geodesic Dome I currently live in

#114
post #91
post #63

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Actually, "decimated" is not the perfect word for it. He's done much better than mere decimation! (Decimated means "reduced by 1/10th" ... not, as is popularly believed, "reduced to 1/10th")

It comes from latin or the french verb decimer. If you break it further it becomes cime, which means top (ex: as in top of a mountain). So you're essentially destroying that which is as high as a mountain top - not easily attainable.

[deleted]

Re: The Frameless Geodesic Dome I currently live in

#115

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Exactly. This structure basically assumes you're living in the country somewhere. If you're willing to move out to the country, on a programmer's salary you could quickly save enough to pay cash for a smallish, newly constructed home with many modern comforts, such as "rooms".

I moved to Colorado from the SF Bay Area. I'm near Boulder and Denver, and can walk to a dozen restaurants, a grocery store, a bar, multiple cafes, and a big library with free Internet access (oddly enough, almost ALL of the above have free Internet access, now that I think of it -- even the grocery store). And if you like public transit, I'm really close to multiple bus lines, but the city I live in is also very bik…

But you're renting, right? Isn't part of the point not to be wasting capital on rent? (I'm a CO man myself)

Re: The Frameless Geodesic Dome I currently live in

#116
post #91

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It comes from latin or the french verb decimer. If you break it further it becomes cime, which means top (ex: as in top of a mountain). So you're essentially destroying that which is as high as a mountain top - not easily attainable.

I always thought it came from a Roman Army disciplinary practice. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Decimation_(Roman_army)

Stack ranking: Not so new after all.

Re: The Frameless Geodesic Dome I currently live in

#117
post #71

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Knowing that you don't need a big house gives you a lot more flexibility in choosing where to put it.

In some ways. The dome is great, but one thing it isn't is stackable.

Maybe it is. It's light. Maybe you could have giant shelves with domes on them.

Re: The Frameless Geodesic Dome I currently live in

#119

For those who want to work on their projects and live cheap, I've seen: Live in your car and have a hackerspace and gym membership: http://www.quora.com/Would-becoming-homeless-be-a-good-strat... Hide out at AOL office Be homeless in Swedish forest Move to foreign country where it's cheaper to live Move to a dome Added it to the list!

I once rented out a garage space, pitched a tent inside, and parked my Jeep in there. Ah, the early days of a programming career in a new city :)

Re: The Frameless Geodesic Dome I currently live in

#120

As an architect, I appreciate many of the ideas expressed via the design - in particular seeking a reduced footprint. However, while many US jurisdictions might not require a building permit for this structure due to its size, it would typically not be exempt from building codes and as a habitable structure and more importantly as a dwelling, the design does not meet fundamental principles embodied in modern building…

What would this need to make it permit-able?
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