Abstract

Problem, research strategy and findings

Mobile home parks (MHPs) are a major source of unsubsidized affordable housing in the United States but are poorly understood in planning research and practice. Here we present findings of one of the first and most comprehensive studies of MHPs in a U.S. metropolitan area. We located and spatially analyzed MHPs in the Houston (TX) metropolitan statistical area, comparing the sociodemographics, built environment, and environmental exposure of census block groups with higher shares of MHP land to block groups with fewer or no parks. We examined the relationship between land use regulations and the location of MHPs by coding government documents for the 132 jurisdictions in the metropolitan statistical area. We found that MHPs are an important component of the regional housing system and are located in areas with more diverse populations, lower socioeconomic status, and larger families. MHPs are concentrated in moderately urbanized areas relatively close to the central business district with lower housing costs and moderate job opportunities. They are clustered near other MHPs in areas with less access to transportation and urban amenities and greater exposure to environmental hazards. We demonstrate that the location of MHPs is associated with exclusionary land use regulations, which indicates future parks will likely be in areas with significant inequalities.

Takeaways for practice

MHPs are difficult to analyze because they are not identified in typical sources of planning data like the U.S. Census. Planning departments should use alternative methods, like those described in our study, to map and plan for MHPs. Most major cities and metropolitan regions are facing an affordable housing crisis, and the anti-MHP regulatory stance we observed in our study is concerning for regional equity. The concentration of MHPs in areas with significant environmental hazards indicates that planning actions are likely necessary to protect these residents from future flood events.

中文翻译：

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负担得起但被边缘化

摘要

问题、研究策略和发现

移动房屋公园 (MHP) 是美国无补贴经济适用房的主要来源，但在规划研究和实践中却知之甚少。在这里，我们介绍了美国大都市地区第一个也是最全面的 MHP 研究之一的结果。我们在休斯顿 (TX) 大都市统计区定位和空间分析 MHP，比较 MHP 土地份额较高的人口普查街区组与公园较少或没有公园的街区组的社会人口学、建筑环境和环境暴露。我们通过对大都市统计区 132 个司法管辖区的政府文件进行编码，研究了土地使用法规与 MHP 位置之间的关系。我们发现 MHP 是区域住房系统的重要组成部分，位于人口更多样化的地区，社会经济地位低，家庭多。MHP 集中在相对靠近中央商务区的中等城市化地区，住房成本较低，就业机会适中。它们聚集在交通和城市便利设施较少且更容易受到环境危害的地区的其他 MHP 附近。我们证明 MHP 的位置与排他性土地使用法规相关，这表明未来的公园可能位于存在严重不平等的地区。它们聚集在交通和城市便利设施较少且更容易受到环境危害的地区的其他 MHP 附近。我们证明 MHP 的位置与排他性土地使用法规相关，这表明未来的公园可能位于存在严重不平等的地区。它们聚集在交通和城市便利设施较少且更容易受到环境危害的地区的其他 MHP 附近。我们证明 MHP 的位置与排他性土地使用法规相关，这表明未来的公园可能位于存在严重不平等的地区。

练习要点

MHP 很难分析，因为它们没有在美国人口普查等典型的规划数据来源中被识别出来。规划部门应使用替代方法，如我们研究中所述的方法，来绘制和规划 MHP。大多数主要城市和大都市地区都面临着经济适用房危机，我们在研究中观察到的反 MHP 监管立场与区域公平有关。MHP 集中在具有重大环境危害的地区表明，可能需要采取规划行动来保护这些居民免受未来洪水事件的影响。