With demand surging and rent costs rising sharply, mobile home parks are becoming unaffordable for their most vulnerable residents.

In an article for The Washington Post, Abha Bhattarai highlights growing fears among mobile home residents as rent increases hit mobile home parks around the country. “Surging home prices and rents are cascading down to the country’s mobile home parks, where heightened demand, low supply and an increase in corporate owners is driving up monthly costs for low-income residents with few alternatives.” As we noted in a story last year, “private-equity firms and developers are often circling nearby, looking to buy up such properties and turn them into more lucrative ventures, including timeshare resorts, wedding venues and condominiums.”
With roughly 20 million Americans living in manufactured homes, rising costs for this historically affordable housing option are putting some of the country’s lowest-income households in peril of losing their homes. Although many mobile home residents own their trailer, rising land rents, the cost of moving a mobile home, and a lack of regulations on mobile home rent in most cities put mobile home owners in a precarious position.
“The circumstances surrounding mobile homeownership are yet another way the housing market has worsened long-standing inequities,” Bhattarai writes. “While homeowners enjoyed cheaper mortgages during the pandemic, loans for buying manufactured homes often come with higher interest rates, limited opportunities to refinance and fewer protections than those for typical mortgages, according to a Consumer Financial Protection Bureau report.”
FULL STORY: ‘We’re all afraid’: Massive rent increases hit mobile homes

Amtrak Ramping Up Infrastructure Projects
Thanks to federal funding from the 2021 infrastructure act, the agency plans to triple its investment in infrastructure improvements and new routes in the next two years.

Ending Downtown San Francisco’s ‘Doom Loop’
A new public space project offers an ambitious vision—so why is the city implementing it at such a small scale?

Proposal Would Transform L.A.’s ‘Freeway to Nowhere’ Into Park, Housing
A never-completed freeway segment could see new life as a mixed-use development with housing, commercial space, and one of the county’s largest parks.

Report: Bike Lanes Can't Make up for New Roads
If California wants to meet its climate goals, the state must stop funding its myriad road construction and expansion projects.

Minneapolis Affordable Housing Project Largest in 20 Years
The city opened its first large multifamily affordable housing complex in decades, but a recent court ruling against the Minneapolis 2040 rezoning plan could jeopardize future projects.

NYC Mayor Proposes Eliminating Parking Minimums
Mayor Adams wants to stop requiring off-site parking for new buildings to reduce the costs of construction as part of the ‘City of Yes’ package of zoning reforms.
Urban3
HUD's Office of Policy Development and Research
Washington University
Mpact: Mobility, Community, Possibility
Lassen County Planning and Building Services
City of San Carlos
National Capital Planning Commission
Urban Design for Planners 1: Software Tools
This six-course series explores essential urban design concepts using open source software and equips planners with the tools they need to participate fully in the urban design process.
Planning for Universal Design
Learn the tools for implementing Universal Design in planning regulations.