As the housing crisis worsens, it is becoming mainstream knowledge that banks are warehousing empty homes because the buildings have higher apparent value on balance sheets than their actual monetary value on the open market. As of December 2011, many occupiers in the US and elsewhere are embracing a strategy of taking back those warehoused buildings and using them to use as homes and community centers. Open squatting is still very difficult, with lots of police evictions happening, but the basic skills needed to squat are becoming better known. 2012 could be the year of resurgence of widespread squatting in the US.
In New York, Organizing for Occupation (O4O) is sharing skills on how to get in and get fixed up.
How to Squat a Building This info, published as a pamphlet and retyped as a page on our site, has been around for some time and has been pasted at various places on the web. We’d welcome updates and comments.
Squatter City A blog by New York City based journalist Robert Neuwirth, who says he researched squats by living in them on four continents. After a hiatus, new posts are appearing in 2011.
Squat The World! Historical value, about the New York City squatters movement in the mid 1990s. The author of the pamphlet was not a squatter and notes that there are some inaccuracies based on her/him getting some of the info from news reports rather than direct sources.
Squ@t.net A European anarchist site, with links in English, French, German, Dutch, Spanish, Czech, and Norwegian (link content is generally pertaining to the country of origin). The French version has a practical A to Z and other theory & practice articles.
Squat on parkland near Boston Brian Joyce, who is the subject of this inspiring video, sent us the link. On parkland near Boston, he built a home out of found materials and lived there for 5 years before the place was destroyed with convict labor supervised by cops. Check out what Brian describes as his “homeless freegan architectural efforts”– gorgeous!