1958 photo of Zimmer trailer in a trailer park in Tampa Florida

A trailer park,caravan park, mobile home park, mobile home community or manufactured home community is a temporary or permanent area for

mobile homes A mobile home (also known as a house trailer, park home, trailer, or trailer home) is a prefabricated structure, built in a factory on a permanently attached chassis before being transported to site (either by being towed or on a trailer). Us ...

and

travel trailers A caravan, travel trailer, camper, tourer or camper trailer is a trailer towed behind a road vehicle to provide a place to sleep which is more comfortable and protected than a tent (although there are fold-down trailer tents). It provides the ...

. Advantages include low cost compared to other housing, and quick and easy moving to a new area (for example, when taking a job in a distant place while keeping the same home). Trailer parks, especially in

American culture The culture of the United States of America is primarily of Western, and European origin, yet its influences includes the cultures of Asian American, African American, Latin American, and Native American peoples and their cultures. The U ...

, are stereotypically viewed as

lower income housing Affordable housing is housing which is deemed affordable to those with a household income at or below the median as rated by the national government or a local government by a recognized housing affordability index. Most of the literature on aff ...

for occupants living at or below the

poverty line The poverty threshold, poverty limit, poverty line or breadline is the minimum level of income deemed adequate in a particular country. The poverty line is usually calculated by estimating the total cost of one year's worth of necessities for t ...

who have low social status. Despite the advances in trailer home technology, the trailer park image survives as evoked by a statement from Presidential adviser

James Carville Chester James Carville Jr. (born October 25, 1944) is an American political consultant, author, and occasional actor who has strategized for candidates for public office in the United States and in at least 23 nations abroad. A Democrat, he is an ...

who, in the course of one of the

Bill Clinton William Jefferson Clinton ( né Blythe III; born August 19, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 42nd president of the United States from 1993 to 2001. He previously served as governor of Arkansas from 1979 to 1981 and agai ...

White House The White House is the official residence and workplace of the president of the United States. It is located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C., and has been the residence of every U.S. president since John Adams in 1800. ...

political scandals, suggested "Drag $100 bills through trailer parks, there's no telling what you'll find," in reference to

Paula Jones Paula Corbin Jones (born Paula Rosalee Corbin; September 17, 1966) is an American civil servant. A former Arkansas state employee, Jones sued United States President Bill Clinton for sexual harassment in 1994. In the initial lawsuit, Jones cite ...

Tornado A tornado is a violently rotating column of air that is in contact with both the surface of the Earth and a cumulonimbus cloud or, in rare cases, the base of a cumulus cloud. It is often referred to as a twister, whirlwind or cyclone, altho ...

es and

hurricane A tropical cyclone is a rapidly rotating storm system characterized by a low-pressure center, a closed low-level atmospheric circulation, strong winds, and a spiral arrangement of thunderstorms that produce heavy rain and squalls. Depend ...

s often inflict serious damage on trailer parks, usually because the structures are not secured to the ground and their construction is significantly less able to withstand high wind forces than regular houses. However, most modern

manufactured homes Manufactured housing (commonly known as mobile homes in the United States) is a type of prefabricated housing that is largely assembled in factories and then transported to sites of use. The definition of the term in the United States is regu ...

are built to withstand high winds, using hurricane straps and proper foundations.

By country

In the United States

The negative perception of trailer parks was not improved by the creation of emergency trailer parks by the

Federal Emergency Management Agency The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) is an agency of the United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS), initially created under President Jimmy Carter by Presidential Reorganization Plan No. 3 of 1978 and implemented by two Exec ...

(FEMA) for the displaced victims of

Hurricane Katrina Hurricane Katrina was a destructive Category 5 Atlantic hurricane that caused over 1,800 fatalities and $125 billion in damage in late August 2005, especially in the city of New Orleans and the surrounding areas. It was at the time the cost ...

, the quality and temporary nature of which was disputed. Many stereotypes have been developed regarding people who live in trailer parks, which are similar to stereotypes of the poor and the term ''

trailer trash ''Trailer trash'' is a derogatory North American English term for poor people living in a trailer or a mobile home. It is particularly used to denigrate white people living in such circumstances History In the mid-20th century, poor whites who ...

'' is often used as an adjective in the same vein as the derogatory American terms ''

white trash White trash is a derogatory racial and class-related slur used in American English to refer to poor white people, especially in the rural southern United States. The label signifies a social class inside the white population and especially a ...

'' or ''

ghetto A ghetto, often called ''the'' ghetto, is a part of a city in which members of a minority group live, especially as a result of political, social, legal, environmental or economic pressure. Ghettos are often known for being more impoverished t ...

''. Though trailer parks appear throughout the United States, they are often associated with the

Deep South The Deep South or the Lower South is a cultural and geographic subregion in the Southern United States. The term was first used to describe the states most dependent on plantations and slavery prior to the American Civil War. Following the war ...

and rural areas. Trailer parks became viewed as a valuable asset in the late 2010s. During that decade, REITs, private equity funds, and middle-class people looking to escape the corporate world bought them up from small mom-and-pop owners. More recently referred to in the U.S. as "mobile home parks" or "

manufactured housing Manufactured housing (commonly known as mobile homes in the United States) is a type of prefabricated housing that is largely assembled in factories and then transported to sites of use. The definition of the term in the United States is regula ...

communities", the stereotypes are often just that.

Retirement communities A retirement community is a residential community or housing complex designed for older adults who are generally able to care for themselves; however, assistance from home care agencies is allowed in some communities, and activities and socializ ...

exist in many locales that permit mobile home parks as "55+ parks" in keeping with the

Housing for Older Persons Act The Housing for Older Persons Act of 1995 (HOPA) () amends Title VIII of the Civil Rights Act of 1968 (Fair Housing Act). The consolidated Act is administered by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). The law was signed by Pre ...

(HOPA). Generally, at least one homeowner in these communities must be age 55 or over, and those under age 18 are rarely permitted to live there. These can be

gated communities A gated community (or walled community) is a form of residential community or housing estate containing strictly controlled entrances for pedestrians, bicycles, and automobiles, and often characterized by a closed perimeter of walls and fences. ...

with amenities, such as

swimming pool A swimming pool, swimming bath, wading pool, paddling pool, or simply pool, is a structure designed to hold water to enable Human swimming, swimming or other leisure activities. Pools can be built into the ground (in-ground pools) or built ...

clubhouse Clubhouse may refer to: Locations * The meetinghouse of: ** A club (organization), an association of two or more people united by a common interest or goal ** In the United States, a country club ** In the United Kingdom, a gentlemen's club * A ...

s and onsite maintenance. Homes are often permanently installed on foundations, however, in certain circumstances, residents may not own the land their homes occupy.

Corporate investment

Mobile home parks in the U.S. have become an attractive investment for financial firms such as

Carlyle Group The Carlyle Group is a multinational private equity, alternative asset management and financial services corporation based in the United States with $376 billion of assets under management. It specializes in private equity, real assets, and pri ...

, Apollo Global Management and

TPG Capital TPG Inc., previously known as Texas Pacific Group and TPG Capital, is an American investment company based in Fort Worth, Texas. The private equity firm is focused on leveraged buyouts and growth capital. TPG manages investment funds in growth c ...

. Over 100,000 US mobile home sites were estimated to be owned by large firms in 2019. One firm,

Stockbridge Capital Group Stockbridge Capital Group is a private-equity real estate investment company based in San Francisco, led by Terry Fancher and Sol Raso. In 2020 the company had over $16 billion in assets under management. The company owns the Hollywood Park Ca ...

, owner of about 200 mobile-home parks throughout the US "saw a return on investment of more than 30 percent between late 2016 and the end of 2017." The company's expansion into this market was facilitated by $1.3 billion in financing from

Fannie Mae The Federal National Mortgage Association (FNMA), commonly known as Fannie Mae, is a United States government-sponsored enterprise (GSE) and, since 1968, a publicly traded company. Founded in 1938 during the Great Depression as part of the N ...

, which has called mobile homes "inherently affordable." Profitability for the firms owning the parks has in some cases been tied to rent increases, and has not necessarily translated into good maintenance of the mobile homes. Efforts are being mounted to allow trailer park residents a chance to buy their own trailer park and thus own the land they live on; for instance, in Colorado, trailer park owners must give residents 90 days' notice before selling.

Outside the United States

Disputed trailer parks

In Britain and Ireland, the term

halting site A halting site (or a halting bay site) is purpose-built residential accommodation for Travellers provided by a local municipal authority. The halting site has an individual bay for each family unit with a full range of services provided in a ...

is used in place of trailer parks. The biggest difference in Europe is the presence of unauthorised halting sites (or trailer parks). This stems from the practice of traditionally itinerant ethnic groups, such as the

Romani Romani may refer to: Ethnicities * Romani people, an ethnic group of Northern Indian origin, living dispersed in Europe, the Americas and Asia ** Romani genocide, under Nazi rule * Romani language, any of several Indo-Aryan languages of the Roma ...

and

Irish Travellers Irish Travellers ( ga, an lucht siúil, meaning "the walking people"), also known as Pavees or Mincéirs (Shelta: Mincéirí), are a traditionally peripatetic indigenous ethno-cultural group in Ireland.''Questioning Gypsy identity: ethnic na ...

, to periodically during the year set up a transient community. From the late 1970s onward there was also a growth in

New Age travelers New Age travellers, not completely synonymous with but otherwise shortened to New Travellers (often referred to as "crusties"), are people in the United Kingdom generally espousing New Age beliefs along with the hippie culture of the 1960s (over ...

culture; these groups espoused alternative lifestyles combined with a Do-It-Yourself punk ethic. The latter were a commonplace phenomenon in Germany, giving rise to expressions such as ''Wagenburg'', ''Wagendorf'', and ''Bauwagenplatz'' ("

wagon fort A wagon fort, wagon fortress, or corral, often referred to as Circle the wagons (idiom), circling the wagons, is a temporary fortification made of wagons arranged into a rectangle, circle, or other shape and possibly joined with each other to pro ...

", "trailer village" and "construction trailer site" respectively). Either rejected from or refusing to seek entrance in municipally authorised halting sites, groups of families practising a nomadic lifestyle would establish themselves under the cover of darkness on idle land near urban centers. These unauthorised encampments were often resented by local people, perpetuating a cycle of violence, fear and discrimination. The use of land without the necessary permission also carried the threat of imprisonment for the squatting families, further worsening the socio-economic disadvantage experienced by these minorities.

Authorised caravan parks

In Germany, the Netherlands and some other European countries, local law allows for normal camping at

RV park A recreational vehicle park (RV park) or caravan park is a place where people with recreational vehicles can stay overnight, or longer, in allotted spaces known as "sites" or "campsites". They are also referred to as campgrounds, though a tru ...

s for a short time and seasonal camping for holiday makers, and also long-time camping (for years) with hardly movable travel trailers. Sometimes these inhabitants also cultivate a

garden A garden is a planned space, usually outdoors, set aside for the cultivation, display, and enjoyment of plants and other forms of nature. The single feature identifying even the wildest wild garden is ''control''. The garden can incorporate bot ...

. Some cities allow a long-time camping lot to be the regular address registered with the authorities; others do not. Many of mobile home plots are offered by

s that allow for all sorts of camping and offer extra plots for mobile homes (static caravans).The cost for such a plot tends to be between 400 € and 1.500 € a year, depending on the location and facilities. In France, living in a trailer or mobile home for more than three months is prohibited by law, even if the resident owns the land; however, building requirements and permissions for self building of recreational solid (static) country cottages are more relaxed in France if one stays within a certain amount of square meters. In the United Kingdom, "trailers" are commonly known as static caravans, and are generally used for one of two purposes: firstly as holiday homes, designed for short-term living; and secondly as retirement homes for the elderly, designed for long-term occupancy. Both types of trailers usually enjoy good amenities and are surrounded by highly manicured gardens. In

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

, there is generally no differentiation between a trailer park and an

. The term "caravan park" is used to refer to both. In New Zealand, the suburb of

Favona Favona is a mostly industry-dominated suburb of Auckland, New Zealand, and is part of the Māngere area. The suburb is in the Manukau ward, one of the thirteen administrative divisions of Auckland city, and is under governance of the Auckland Co ...

Auckland Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The List of New Zealand urban areas by population, most populous urban area in the country and the List of cities in Oceania by po ...

is an area where trailer parks are concentrated.

References

External links

Park Prejudice
by All Parks Alliance for Change {{DEFAULTSORT:Trailer Park Neighbourhoods Urban geography Society of the United States Portable buildings and shelters Types of populated places