During the last five years New York City’s Bloomberg Administration has been developing a plan to make temporary housing quarters out of 40 foot shipping containers with a door and window at each end, a bedroom, kitchen, bath and living area in between. Each 480 square foot unit would be completely furnished including kitchenware, as well as towels and soap and toothpaste, and brought into the city and sited within days of a catastrophe. The New York Observer says modules could be stacked four-high and six to twelve wide, and alterations could be made for larger families. Retail and community spaces would be on the ground floor. Container-modification company Sea Box of New Jersey has developed a prototype, although no contract has been signed. Each modular unit is estimated to cost $50,000 to $80,000. MHProNews has learned the city hopes FEMA will pick up a goodly portion of the tab and and then allow the agency to use the housing when needed elsewhere.

(Photo credit: Ron Medvescek/Arizona Daily Star–shipping container house)