The Manufactured Housing Gap
There are many reasons to expect a home built in the controlled environment of a factory to be higher quality and more affordable than a home built outside, exposed to the elements. There is nothing inherently marginal about a factory-built home. However, there is often a wide gap between the merits and promise of manufactured housing (MH) in theory, and how MH is lived in and experienced by residents, or perceived by the general public, government agencies and politicians. This mismatch between the promise of MH, and how it is lived in and perceived is the “manufactured housing gap”.
This research aims to understand what holds this “MH gap” open, and to determine what steps should be taken to close that gap, and help MH live up to its promise, and enhance quality of life for MH residents across Tucson and beyond.
Selected Research Publications, Reports, Presentations and Conference Sessions
[1] Kear M, Solís P, Wilder M, Hondula D, and Bernstein M. (2020) “When Heat Collides with a Pandemic.” May 3, 2020. href="https://www.azcentral.com/story/opinion/op-ed/2020/05/03/arizona-heat-could-kill-self-isolating-coronavirus-
mobile-homes/3043693001/" target="_blank">https://www.azcentral.com/story/opinion/op-ed/2020/05/03/arizona-heat-could-
kill-self-isolating-coronavirus-mobile-homes/3043693001/
[2] Kear M and Wilder M (2020) “The coronavirus is a housing crisis, and not just for the homeless.” Arizona Daily Star. April 3, 2020. https://tucson.com/opinion/local/local-opinion-the-coronavirus-is-a-housing-crisis-and-not-just-for-the-homeless/article_674d5dc2-dd4e-5ee7-bc89-3c93fd33fe21.html
[1] Kear M, Wilder M (in prep) “Home on the Fringe”. Environment and Planning A.
[2] Meyer D, Wilder M, Kear M (in prep) “Displacement Without Relocation? Negative Place-Making in Manufactured Housing Landscapes.”
[3] Wilder M and Kear, M (in prep) “Climate Change and Energy Poverty in Manufactured Housing Communities.” Geography Compass.
[1] Kear M (2020) "Heat, Housing and COVID-19." Climate Tucson community presentation.
[2] Kear M, Wilder M, Solis P, Sullivan E (2020) “Crisis Housing Assemblages.” Association of American Geographers AGM, Denver, CO, USA.
[3] Meyer D, McCann L, Kear M (2019) “The ‘Manufactured Housing Gap’ in Tucson and Pima County: Emerging Themes from a Landscape of Vulnerability.” Association of Pacific Coast Geographers AGM, Flagstaff, AZ, USA.
[4] Kear M (2019) "A New Habitat for Manufactured Housing in Tucson: What we know, what we don’t, how you can help and what we can return", Habitat for Humanity Tucson. (Housing Practitioners Workshop), Tucson, AZ.
[5] Kear M (2019) "A New Habitat for Manufactured Housing in Tucson", Swan Lake Estates (Resident Outreach), Tucson, AZ.
[6] Kear M (2019) "A New Habitat for Manufactured Housing in Tucson", Flowing Wells Public Library (Resident Outreach), Tucson, AZ.
[7] Kear M (2019) "The Manufactured Housing Gap" MAP Talk (Making Action Possible / Economics and Business Research Center at Eller College of Management).
[8] Kear, M (2018) “The ‘Manufactured Housing Gap’ in Tucson and Pima County.” Equitable Development of Housing and Neighborhoods Forum. Tucson, Arizona, USA.
[1] Kear, M., Handschuh, T., Launius, S., Hartman, J., Meyer, D., & Christopherson, G. (2019). The "Manufactured Housing Gap" in Tucson and Pima County: Introduction and Preliminary Analysis. Tucson, AZ: Making Action Possible for Southern Arizona.
[2] McCann L, Hibberd R, Kear M (in prep) “Housing Insecurity in Tucson and Beyond: A Case Study of Manufactured Housing.” Making Action Possible White Paper Series. Economic and Business Research Center, Eller College, University of Arizona.