Places that matter: Reproducing inequality in manufactured home communities

Social scientists have documented the harm associated with manufactured home community (MHC) redevelopment, however, relatively few studies consider the extent to which popular sociocultural beliefs about “trailers” and “trailer parks” shape policy decisions in ways that exacerbate, rather than alleviate the challenges they face. Drawing on ethnographic data collected over a period of 28 months (2011–2016), we present a case study of a community mapping project in Lincoln, Nebraska to examine the influence of dominant cultural beliefs that consider MHCs to be inherently poor, unsafe, and unhealthy on housing policy and programs. Our analysis reveals three key dynamics: (1) data were often interpreted in ways that confirmed preexisting biases among non-MHC stakeholders; (2) there was a sizable disconnect between the lived experiences of MHC residents and the assumptions embedded in broader policy and service systems; and (3) prevailing narratives framed the long-term decline of MHCs as inevitable, rather than the result of under regulation, systemic disinvestment, and corporate malpractice. This case study highlights how well-intentioned policy initiatives driven by objective data can unintentionally reproduce the disparities they aim to address when they are shaped by unexamined sociocultural beliefs and biases.