The Pod People

I was driving in rural central Texas and had one of those slam-on-the-brakes-and-do-a-u-turn-to-whip-out-the-camera moments. Just outside Italy, Texas, I passed by this "settlement" of 48 little pods - technically, monolithic domes - and thought this is where the pod people from Invasion of the Body Snatchers finally settled. It was hard to grab a shot that really shows the large number of units as well as how small they are individually.

It was far from obvious as to the purpose of this village. I did spot a sign showing "vacancy" and giving a phone number and web address. This is the web site that describes this place. In short, these are essentially apartments intended for low income individuals. They are 314 square feet or smaller, and there are 48 units in this village with a few other villages like it elsewhere in the state. Probably noot a bad idea at all in this economy, but, man, these are small. They appear to have softsided, tent-like exterior walls. If you visit the web site, click on the image of the village, whch will take you to another page with some interior views. Quite fascinating.