Moving Out: Mapping Mobile Home Park Closures to Analyze Spatial Patterns of Low–Income Residential Displacement

Abstract

Mobile homes provide the largest source of unsubsidized affordable housing in the United States. However, in mobile home parks residents live at risk of eviction because they rent the land on which their homes are located. This study formulates a methodology to examine the residential turnover and displacement that result from the closure of these parks. I investigate the spatial distribution of closing mobile home parks through ArcGIS modeling of land–use data for all 1.2 million parcels in the case study region of Houston/Harris County, Texas, from 2002 to 2011. Findings demonstrate that the spatial distribution of closing mobile home parks is clustered along Houston's expanding city limit in areas where affordable housing development is taking place. Beyond providing spatial documentation of the process through which this important source of affordable housing is lost, this study highlights how low–income housing pressures and urban redevelopment intersect to shape affordable housing in contemporary metropolitan areas.

Factors affecting mobile home prevalence in the United States: Poverty, natural amenities, and employment in natural resources

“…The intensity of zoning laws regulating mobile home parks varies by the level of community‐wide class conflicts (Geisler & Mitsuda, ). Outside of general NIMBYism (Not‐In‐My‐Back‐Yard) concerns, many believe that mobile homes increase crime and lower the value of neighbouring properties (Davis & Bali, ; Sullivan, ). The fear of increased crime in areas with mobile homes is unfounded in the literature, with neighbourhoods containing mobile home communities not having statistically higher crime rates than surrounding neighbourhoods (McCarty, ; McCarty, ).…”

“…However, mobile homes do potentially reduce the property values of traditional single‐family homes near mobile home communities (Munneke & Slawson, ; Wubneh & Shen, ). Overall, community resistance towards mobile home communities has pushed the location of mobile home communities near the outskirts of many cities (MacTavish, ; Shen, ; Sullivan, ).…”

“…Mobile home residents are also far less mobile than traditional renters, which may have positive community impacts (Boehm & Schlottmann, ). Despite the name, most mobile homes are not mobile, and the majority have never been moved after their original build (Aman & Yarnal, ; Sullivan, ). A number of studies have shown that residents of mobile home parks desire to live there for the foreseeable future (Aman & Yarnal, ; Baker, Hamshaw, & Beach, ).…”

“…As previously mentioned, mobile homes are one of the largest sources of affordable housing in the United States, and they are the largest source of unsubsidised affordable housing (Sullivan, ). Due to this, the Department of Housing and Urban Development endorses mobile homes as a source of affordable housing (Boehm & Schlottmann, : Sullivan, ).…”

“…Some studies have examined mobile home locations and change over time at a municipal level (Shen, ; Sullivan, ; Wubneh & Shen, ). However, there is a missing national‐level understanding of mobile home prevalence.…”