Volume 28.2 Manufactured Housing (2003)

Editors: Naomi Cytron, David Kiddoo, Jane Sibley, and Richard E. Thorsten

A digital version of this issue is available here.

MANUFACTURED HOUSING IN NORTH CAROLINA: CURRENT ISSUES AND FUTURE OPPORTUNITIES

Weill, Courtney

This article reviews the current context of manufactured housing within the nation and North Carolina in Particular. Over the past decade, there has been significant growth in the number of North Carolina’s mobile home residences, serving as an affordable housing option for low-to-moderate income households. Despite advances in the mobile home industry, five main sources fo lingering problems within the industry are identified: financing, land use, quality of construction and installation, equity-building, and consumer protection. This review is intended to familiarize practioners with issues related to manufactured housing, and calls for broad reform in the areas of consumer and industry education, state policy, financing programs, and public perception as a means to ensure that manufactured housing can serve as a viable option for affordable housing.

WHAT IS THE EFFECT OF COMMUTE TIME ON EMPLOYMENT: AN ANALYSIS OF SPATIAL PATTERNS IN THE NEW YORK METROPOLITAN AREA

Macek, Nathan M.; Khattak, Asad J.; Quercia, Roberto G.

This study uses 1995 Nationawide Personal Transportation Survey (NPTS) data to determine the effect of commute time, a measure of accessibility, on employment for residents of the New York-Northern New Jersey-Long Island consolidated metropolitan statistical area (CMSA). The study uses two models to test the hypothesis that higher commute time are associated with lower employment probabilities, and considers both empoyed and non-employed individuals and private vehicle and public transit commute modes. In the first model, an ordinary least squares regression is used to predict commute time by auto and transit for all New York CMSA respondents (regardless of whether employed) on the basis of individual, households, neighborhood, and workplace characteristics. In the second model, a binary probit model estimates employment probability on the basis of individual, households, and neighborhood characteristics, as well as predicted commute time. The policy implications of the findings are discussed.

FINDING NEW SOLUTIONS IN PLANNING WITH SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT: A CASE STUDY IN CHARLOTTE AND ATLANTA

Decker, Bradley P.

The purpose of this study is to describe how sustainable development offers a new vision for planning. The paper defines the vision, explains the principles of sustainable development, and evaluates the plans of the Charlotte and Atlanta metropolitan areas to determine how well their policies support sustainable development. The Atlanta and Charlotte metropolitan ares were chosen for the evaluation because these two cities continue to experience rapid economic growth and are dominated by sprawl style development. Through the explanation of sustainable development and its application as a new vision, and through the use of principes of sustainability in analyzing the planning pracitce in two case studies, this article demostrates how the sustanble development concept offers the breadth and analytical capability to lead the field into a tnew direction that will enable planning to bring life and health to our communities. The article concludes with recommendations for how to better incorporate a more balanced representaiton of sustainable development values.