Learning from the Humble Trailer Park

An examination of the common trailer park reveals a few key lessons about land use, urban design, and private governance.

1 minute read

August 13, 2016, 11:00 AM PDT

By James Brasuell @CasualBrasuell


Trailer Park

Annie Kitzman / Shutterstock

"Trailer parks remain one of the last forms of housing in US cities provided by the market explicitly for low-income residents," writes Nolan Gray. "Better still, they offer a working example of traditional urban design elements and private governance."

According to Gray, trailer parks are an outlier in the U.S. real estate market. But there very existence offers a lot of instruction about how land use regulation and market forces work. Gray writes: "where they exist, [trailer parks]  are often subject to uniquely liberal land-use regulation, with minimal setbacks, fewer parking requirements, and tiny minimum lot sizes. The result is that many trailer parks have relatively high population densities.

There's more:

By combining these liberal land-use regulations with narrow streets shared by all users, we ironically find in many trailer parks a kind of traditional urban design more common in European and Japanese cities. With functional urban densities and traditional urban design, the only thing missing in most trailer parks is a natural mixture of commercial and industrial uses. 

Gray concludes the article by proposing three key lessons to be learned from trailer parks.

Friday, August 12, 2016 in Strong Towns

portrait of professional woman

I love the variety of courses, many practical, and all richly illustrated. They have inspired many ideas that I've applied in practice, and in my own teaching. Mary G., Urban Planner

I love the variety of courses, many practical, and all richly illustrated. They have inspired many ideas that I've applied in practice, and in my own teaching.

Mary G., Urban Planner

Use Code 25for25 at checkout for 25% off an annual plan!

Logo for Planetizen Federal Action Tracker with black and white image of U.S. Capitol with water ripple overlay.

Planetizen Federal Action Tracker

A weekly monitor of how Trump’s orders and actions are impacting planners and planning in America.

2 hours ago - Diana Ionescu

Front of Walmart store with sign.

Walmart Announces Nationwide EV Charging Network

The company plans to install electric car chargers at most of its stores by 2030.

May 7, 2025 - Inc.

People biking along beach path with moored ship in San Diego, California.

San Diego Adopts First Mobility Master Plan

The plan provides a comprehensive framework for making San Diego’s transportation network more multimodal, accessible, and sustainable.

May 2, 2025 - SD News

Illustration of nighttime city with white lines connecting nodes to illustrate technology and connectivity

Top 10 Tech-Ready Cities

An index ranks U.S. cities based on their preparedness for the ‘smart city future.’

1 hour ago - Smart Cities Dive

Aerial view of Bozeman, Montana with mountains in background.

‘It’s Been 50 years’: Public Transit Law Passes in Montana

Legislation would fix transportation district issue, allow for greater reach on city bus routes.

2 hours ago - Daily Montanan

Adults and children planting trees during Arbor Day event in Lakewood, Colorado.

Lakewood Celebrates Arbor Day and Strengthens Urban Forestry Legacy

Lakewood celebrated Arbor Day and its 43rd year as a Tree City USA community with a youth-led tree planting event at O’Kane Park, reinforcing its long-standing commitment to urban forestry and environmental education.

3 hours ago - City of Lakewood