Team Mini Proposal

Journal Entry For
Project 3 - Mini Proposal

Share Your Team’s Mini-Proposal | Due TONIGHT at 11:59 PM

  • What is the problem you’ve defined?
    • Who, What, Why, Where, and When? — POV statement
      • Who: Farmworkers
        • Character profile:
          • Adrían is a farmworker who migrated to Half Moon Bay from Guadalajara, Mexico to labor in the Brussel sprout fields. But, he lives with 3 other farmworkers in a container and cooks with propane.
          • Maria was a farmworker but is now a mother, she has 2 kids, and lives in bad conditions, she feels unsafe and worried on how her kids can get to the schools since buses don’t run to her trailer on the farm
          • Aiden is a farmer who runs a 12 acre farm in Half Moon Bay; he is afraid because the shooting is causing scrutiny on the living conditions where his workers live
          • Adam is a police officer who works in San Mateo County, he frequently gets called to the areas where the workers live due to drinking and crimes that occur after hours near the container homes.
          • Allen is a firefighter who works in Half Moon Bay and he gets called to the RVs because they frequently catch on fire since they are rigged with kitchens fueled by propane
          • Michael is a garbageman who lives in Redwood City but works in Half Moon Bay. It’s easy for him to collect trash from the single family homes, but the dumping that happens around the farm houses is impossible to keep under control.
          • Christina is a social worker that is trying to help farmworkers in Half Moon Bay. She struggles to find people good housing because all the ADUs and small homes in town are rented to tech workers.
      • What: Housing <500sqft dormitory homes
        • Sustainability analysis
          • Use of fossil fuels
          • Water filtration systems maybe?
        • Competitive analysis
          • Containers
          • RVs
          • Converted hotels
      • Why: Because they currently live in deplorable conditions
        • Shelter: Broken down RV’s and shipping containers
        • Cooking: Propane camping stoves
        • Sanitation: Porta-potties
      • Where: Do it in Half Moon Bay to start, and then expand nationwide.
      • When: Prototype now, with it widespread by 2050.
  • What is the focus of your design thinking?
    • Empathizing with underrepresented/supported communities
  • Synthesize a SINGLE, UNIFIED vision
    • Improving the living conditions of farmers in the Half Moon Bay area through developing safe, sanitary, and cost-effective housing communities
  • Share your initial vision through some preliminary sketches (annotated graphics)
    • Where will it be located?

      • Suburban areas

    • What will the form be?
      • image
    • What are the key features you’ll be exploring?
      • easy to clean
      • high density
      • cheap to build and to stay
      • sanitary
        • Ventilation inside (dispelling smoke from fires/heat)
      • Safety
      • cook using electricity not gas

Research into farmworker housing:

  1. The situation - farmworkers live in deplorable conditions in the status quo because of lack of permitted and sanitary housing
    1. Standards for permitted housing: https://www.dol.gov/agencies/whd/fact-sheets/26g-housing-standards-for-rental-and-public-accommodations-H-2A
    2. https://www.sfchronicle.com/bayarea/article/half-moon-bay-needs-homes-farmworkers-experts-17747595.php
    3. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c2qU9FgIXEI
      1. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9wAe9HYTwDQ&t=85s
  2. The urgency - There is a shooting in the beach nearby Stanford in January 2023, perpetrated by a farmer living in bad living conditions
    1. https://abc7news.com/half-moon-bay-shooting-california-farmworker-housing-crisis/13059295/
    2. Hard to solve thus far because formal requests for repairs/reports might expose undocumented immigrants — removed from housing entirely
  3. The funding - government agencies are already providing funding for this problem
    1. The state provided $5M to solve this problem and is looking for proposals
      1. https://www.hmbreview.com/news/county-secures-funding-for-farmworker-housing-on-coast/article_c4079d2e-053c-11ee-bc4c-474aa00fa43f.html
  4. Who we could interview
    1. Joaqin Jimenez - Vice Mayor of Half Moon Bay
    2. Professor Belinda Ramirez - Food sustainability professor at Stanford
      3. image