Portland State University PDXScholar Dissertations and Theses Dissertations and Theses 1-1-2010 Policy Responses to the Closure of Manufactured Home Parks in Oregon Andrée Tremoulet Portland State University Follow this and additional works at: https://pdxscholar.library.pdx.edu/open_access_etds Let us know how access to this document benefits ou.y Recommended Citation Tremoulet, Andrée, "Policy Responses to the Closure of Manufactured Home Parks in Oregon" (2010). Dissertations and Theses. Paper 304. https://doi.org/10.15760/etd.304 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access. It has been accepted for inclusion in Dissertations and Theses by an authorized administrator of PDXScholar. Please contact us if we can make this document more accessible: [email protected]. Policy Responses to the Closure of Manufactured Home Parks in Oregon by Andrée Tremoulet A dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor in Philosophy in Urban Studies Dissertation Committee: Sy Adler, Chair Carl Abbott Nohad A. Toulan Margaret Beth Neal Margaret Everett Portland State University © 2010 Abstract This is a case study about policy responses to a specific form of gentrification at the urban fringe: the closure of manufactured home parks in Oregon. The study analyzes the following research questions: (a) What factors affected the quantity and distribution of manufactured home parks? (b) Why did parks close? (c) How did the state legislature respond and why? (d) What are the likely impacts of the state response? A wide variety of sources (e.g., key informant interviews, observations of meetings and public hearings, focus groups of park residents, archival materials and secondary data about manufactured home parks) are employed to investigate a phenomenon imbedded in its context. Parks subject to development pressures, as evidenced by their location in an area experiencing population growth and within an Urban Growth Boundary, were significantly more likely to close than other parks. Manufactured home parks were replaced by compact, mixed-use development in urban or urbanizing areas—smart growth. Based on this evidence, this study concludes that gentrification, in the form of park closures, is integral to Oregon’s process of metropolitan restructuring. In the wake of mounting publicity about park closures, the 2007 Oregon legislature adopted legislation that supported two ameliorating strategies: (a) reduce the harm caused to displaced manufactured homeowners through financial assistance, and (b) preserve parks where possible through enabling resident purchases from willing sellers. Who pays for the costs of this legislative package and preemption of i local ordinances were the most contested issues. This research is one of the first to analyze gentrification in urban fringe areas. To understand the economic dynamics, it applies rent gap theory to the special case of divided asset ownership. It explores the likely efficacy of two types of policy remedies. Finally, by establishing park closures as a form of gentrification related to metropolitan restructuring, this case study raises the question of whether policies could support a kind of metropolitan restructuring that does not take the toll on people and places exacted by gentrification. ii Dedication This research is dedicated to my husband and life companion, Christopher Michael Cross, whose love and support are the wind under my wings, and to the memory of my parents, Stella Dolhonde Tremoulet and J. Charles Tremoulet. iii Acknowledgements Prepared under Grant Number H-21540SG from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, Office of University Partnerships. Points of view or opinions in this document are those of the author and do not necessarily represent the official position or policies of the Department of Housing and Urban Development. iv Table of Contents Abstract……………………………………………………….……………..….i Dedication……………………………………………………….………...…..iii Acknowledgements……………………………………………….…..……….iv List of Tables…………………………………………………………………...vi List of Figures………………………………………………………………….vii Chapter 1:Introduction……………………………………..………………….1 Chapter 2: Research Design and Methods……..…………………….…..…....8 Chapter 3: Literature Review……………………………………….………..32 Chapter 4: Manufactured Housing, Its Residents and Its Place in Policy……61 Chapter 5: Oregon Manufactured Home Parks and Their Residents…….....108 Chapter 6: An Analysis of Park Closures in Oregon 2001-2007…………...124 Chapter 7: Manufactured Home Parks in Oregon’s Political Economy…....144 Chapter 8: Manufactured Home Park Closures Enter the Political Agenda..180 Chapter 9: How Local Jurisdictions Responded: A Tale of Three Cities…..204 Chapter 10: The Development of Legislative Proposals……………………228 Chapter 11: The 2007 Oregon Legislative Session…………………………263 Chapter 12: Analysis of Significance of the Legislation……..……………..325 Chapter 13: Considerations for Future Policy Development………………..354 Chapter 14: Retrospect and Prospect………………………………………..374 References…………………………………………………………………...381 Appendices Appendix A: Data Accompanying Chapter 2……………………….402 Appendix B: Data Accompanying Chapter 3……………………….426 Appendix C: Data Accompanying Chapter 4……………………….428 Appendix D: Data Accompanying Chapter 5……………………….431 Appendix E: Data Accompanying Chapter 6………………………..432 Appendix F: Data Accompanying Chapter 10………………………433 Appendix G: Data Accompanying Chapter 11………………………444 Appendix H: Data Accompanying Chapter 12………………………451 v List of Tables 2-1 Research Topics, Sources and Analytical Approaches ………………………19 4-1 Regional Distribution of Mobile Homes, 2005……………………………….73 4-2 Comparison of Financing of “Identical” 2,000 Square Foot Homes …………82 4-3 Race and Ethnicity of Householder of Occupied Housing Units, 2005 ………89 5-1 Findings about Oregon’s Manufactured Home Park Residents in 2006……..113 10-1 Primary Homeowner Assistance Provisions of HB 2735 as Proposed by Manufactured Housing Landlord Tenant Coalition………………………238 10-2 Primary Park Preservation Provisions of HB 2096, SB 38/HB 3551 and SB 984………………………………………………………………..255 12-1 Known Status of TMC Households As of November 11, 2007…………….332 12-2 How HB 2735 Addressed the Financial Impacts of Park Closures on Residents……………………………………………………………….334 12-3 Mortality Rate per 1,000 Persons in the U.S., 2006 ………………………...345 vi List of Figures 2-1 Theoretical Model………………………………………………………………13 3-1 The Devalorization Cycle and the Evolution of the Rent Gap…………………42 4-1 All U.S. Housing Units, 2000…………………………………………………..71 4-2 Manufactured Home Size, 2005………………………………………………..71 4-3 Location of Manufactured Housing, 2005……………………………………...72 4-4 Location of Manufactured Housing Within MSAs, 2005………………………72 4-5 Percentage of Manufactured Homeowners Who Own Land…………………...73 4-6 Number of U.S. Mobile Homes…………………………………………………74 4-7 Manufactured Housing Shipments……………………………………………...75 4-8 Price per Square Food, 2005 …………………………………………………...81 4-9 Average Home Price, 2005……………………………………………………..81 4-10 Age of Householder, 2005…………………………………………………….89 4-11 Household Income, 2005……………………………………………………...91 4-12 Household Income as Percent of Poverty Level, 2005………………………..91 4-13 Households for Which Wages & Salaries Were Majority of Income, 2005…..92 4-14 Educational Attainment of Householder………………………………………93 4-15 Number of Persons in Housing Units, 2005…………………………………..93 5-1 Prevalence of Manufactured Housing in Western U.S………………………...109 6-1 Manufactured Home Park Closures in Oregon, 2001-2007…………………....126 6-2 Oregon Manufactured Home Park Closures 2000-2007...……………………..129 6-3 Portland Manufactured Home Park Closures 2000-2007………………………129 6-4 Salem Manufactured Home Park Closures 2000-2007………………………...134 6-5 Eugene Manufactured Home Park Closures 2000-2007……………………….135 6-6 Medford Manufactured Home Park Closures 2000-2007……………………...136 6-7 Bend Manufactured Home Park Closures 2000-2007…………………………137 8-1 Print Media Stories on Park Closures …………………………………………191 8-2 Median Price of Existing Homes in Portland Metro Region…………………..192 8-3 Oregon Manufactured Home Park Closures & PDX Metro Vacant Single Family Residential Land Values……………………………………………………193 8-4 Oregon House of Representatives: Party Affiliation of Members …………….199 8-5 Oregon Senate: Party Affiliation of Members…………………………………199 13-1 Landowner’s Investment in Manufactured Home Park………………………358 13-2 Rent Gap………………………………………………………………………359 13-3 When Might A Sale Occur?...............................................................................360 13-4 Homeowners’ Investment Included…………………………………………...361 13-5 Value of Land, Infrastructure & Homes………………………………………362 13-6 Comparison of Potential Sales Prices…………………………………………363 13-7 Division of Sales Proceeds Incorporating Asset-Sharing and Impact Reduction Strategies……………………………………………………………………370 vii CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION This is a case study of the policy responses to manufactured home park closures in Oregon. Approximately 2,800 households in the state were displaced from 2001 through 2007 when the owners of 69 manufactured home parks decided to close their parks to make way for new development (Oregon Housing and Community Services, 2008). Most residents had low incomes1 and many were older adults, age 62 and older. Most were homeowners2 (Oregon Population Survey, 2006). Although this case study is about Oregon, it is important to note that park closures were not limited to one place; this phenomenon occurred in many states, from Florida to Washington, during the housing