terracourt

SITE

2011-01-18T15:14:00.000-08:00

The ideas written about below are being made into a Landscape Architecture thesis:
www.parshallthesis.blogspot.com
Please give this blog a look and provide any comments you may have. TerraCourt will also be updated when new information and ideas come up...

Thanks,
Michael

please disregard spelling errors

2009-08-21T20:24:00.000-07:00

especially words like tattoo

what im thinking at this point 8/20...

2009-08-19T14:54:00.000-07:00

ok. here goes...Ive driven through trailer parks and seen possibilities... great density, pedestrian scale and low cost housing. By actually designing these developments i.e. making them walkable, adding community amenities, sitting homes thoughtfully, increasing curb appeal and implementing sustainable technologies trailer courts could become a pretty attractive place to live, especially in today's market. The major problem right now is that a trailer in most cases isnt an investment, you lose when selling because of exorbitant depreciation ... Even when a person owns a trailer they are largely treated like rental property, people dont keep things up as much because there is no monetary incentive to do so. I you can create value for the owner the complexion of these communities will change: value - pride - dignity. right now trailer homes account for a very large percentage of low income housing stock twice making up one quarter of all new home production, and routinely generating more affordable homes than HUD’s entire production. That being said they are still largely unrecognized because of their quasi legitimate zoning... it just seems to me that because of all the stigma and issues surrounding them trailer homes have been under utilized. Perhaps with a few thoughtful changes trailer parks could provide the type of community we need in this country...

questions about thoughts...

1. how do you break the stigma associated with the trailer park?

2. how can amenities be added while maintaining low cost living?

3. Would the affluent class (young professionals) ever consider this? how about retirees?

4. what are the ways of connecting people financially not only to the trailer (which depreciates) but the land it sits on (which appreciates).

5. Are trailers that are being produced today capable of maintaining value better than previous generations? if not what can be done about this?
possible answers to questions about thoughts:

1. this is a tough one... In the end it is all about maintenance; if trailers and the land around them are well maintained perceptions can change. But how can you foster good maintenance through design and policy? to me it all revolves around people having a vested interest in the place they live. Perhaps some sort of community ownership association would provide this, but how is low cost ownership maintained? will owning land provide enough financial stability to justify and or cover the cost of its purchase? Its always good to end an answer with another question....

The History of the Trailer Court

2009-08-17T16:42:00.001-07:00

It all started back in the 20's people had all these new cars and were like "i want to go camping and i dont want to frickin walk i want to frickin drive my model t okay foo" so people used tent trailers... it just made sense and as the 20's went on it became more and more popular. Enter the Great Depression...
Hundreds of thousands of people moved to other regions to escape the dust bowl and other poverty stricken areas. Because of huge population shifts there wasnt enough housing to accomidate these new arrivals. People started setting thier car campers in campgrounds when there wasnt any housing available and soon campgrounds that would accept these semi permanent tennants were dubbed "TRAILER PARKS"
Not soon after their conception municipalities began viewing these areas as "trailer slums" full of questionable transients. Many areas during this time declared war on trailer parks and trailer courts (the urban counterpart) by developing exclusionary zoning and ordinences that said trailers were not housing.

WWII
The second world war pushed trailer housing forward. Wartime factories, mines ect... needed a large amount of temporary housing and this brought forth the creation of "the Spartan" a 22-foot-long, eight-foot-wide trailer with a canvas top that included a kitchen and bathroom-the first true house trailer. The government ended up buying 35,000 of these units at $750 per trailer, and constructing 8,500 trailer parks to site them... but in the post-war years the old bugaboo of “trailer-camp-slums” re-emerged."

"Many municipalities... (once again used) “snob-zoning,” (tactics) declaring trailer parks commercial businesses and relegating them to nonresidential zones, i.e. on the other side of the tracks, in industrial areas, and alongside highway corridors outside of town." Because of their relegation to non-residential low quality areas, trailer park developments began to move to less restrictive unincorporated areas...
"In the mid-1960s, mobile home production really began to take off. Manufacturers were early adopters of new technologies such as pneumatic-powered hand tools for nailing, stapling and cutting; automated machinery for manufacturing windows, doors and drawers; new and stronger adhesives, and panel construction machines. These advances greatly reduced the hand labor involved in the construction process and drove down the costs, making mobile homes better and more affordable....In 1965, just under 300,000 mobile home units were shipped. By 1972, the industry shipped an astonishing 575,000 units, amounting to one-third of all new single family housing constructed that year in the United States."

"During the same period in the absence of any meaningful regulation or standards, many manufacturers... began churning out poorly engineered, shoddily constructed mobile homes made of the cheapest possible materials, particularly plastic products that were highly flammable. Many models were dangerously unsafe and full of plumbing, electrical and structural defects."
"In 1974, Congress passed watershed legislation, the National Mobile Home Construction and Safety Standards Act, which formally recognized mobile home manufacturing as a major industry"

modern erra
"The industry, despite wonderful advances in its products, continues to be flawed by a largely unregulated system of selling and financing its products that invites abuses — collusion, misrepresentation and fraud, to name a few... Unlike the auto makers, the manufactured home builders have never fostered a strong cradle-to-the-grave system to protect the buyer after the sale...In short, there were a lot of questionable dealings between dealers and finance companies. For awhile there, a case could be made that what was really being sold were not homes, but loans."

"In the conventional arena, unstimulated by government, capital follows opportunity. It seldom leads. There’s effective demand in mobile homes, and substandard financing. This, coupled with mobile homes’ quasi-illegitimate zoning birth, has given the entire industry the dubious standing of a red-headed stepchild among types of housing, and a complete invisibility in affordable housing."

and there it is... now what?

-sources:
http://affordablehousinginstitute.org/blogs/us/2007/04/mobile_home_par.html

The Grissim Buyer's Guide to Manufactured Homes & Land: How to Find a Reputable Dealer and Negotiate a Fair Price on the Best Kept Secret in American Housing by John Grissim

research an whatnot

2009-08-17T09:23:00.000-07:00

-history of the trailer park in the US
-high density housing in europe
-sustainable community design
-walkable community design
-related design precedence professional and thesis

general research questions...
What are precedents for the form of development terracourt aims for? where do those with less income live with more dignity and pride? what are is the keystone or keystones? ("keystones?" perhaps there are multiple arches?) If these communities exist what are the steps to bring the terracourt development to a similar state? has this sort of idea been attempted? by design? in some sort of urban renewal? what where the outcomes? because this modular higher living for less idea is newish have there been similar thesis? maybe contact university? what is the plural of thesis? these are all questions i wish to answer with loads of research....

possible site maybe?...

2009-07-10T23:03:00.000-07:00

Edgewood Mobile Home Park‎
402 35th Ave N, Fargo, ND‎

Edgewood Mobile Home Park is a relatively well maintained trailer community located in Fargo, ND. Edgwood is located directly adjacent to the Red River and the fargo wastewater treatment plant, this presents some obvious challenges, but also some interesting opportunities. Also nearby is Edgwood Golfcourse, multiple elderly communities and BRENDA'S SHACK! for breakfast and lunch (delicious).

SITE IDEAS:

A portion of Fargo's waste stream could be diverted to a Living Machine System.

Partially treated water could be pumped through a wetland system within the community. geothermal wells can be placed benieth wetland waste water treatment system to increase heating and cooling efficiency.

Sludge from water treatment plant could be used for biogas production. food waste from nearby cafe could be used for biogas production.

The red could possibly be used for hydroelectric prodution

The riparian corridor could be repaired to create a more healthy ecosystem and also nature hiking bird watching and outdoor classroom opportunities.

2009-07-10T22:28:00.000-07:00

How Did Your 401(k) Really Stack Up in 2008?
By Emily Brandon , Katy Marquardt

"The year's 401(k) and IRA account summaries have been rolling in, and they don't look pretty: In 2008, employees, on average, lost 14 percent—or about $10,000—of their retirement savings, according to Hewitt Associates. Some lost much more. Fidelity, the nation's largest retirement-plan administrator, says the average balance in its customers' accounts dropped $19,000 in 2008......Retirement account losses in 2008 disproportionately affected wealthy savers. Those with more than $200,000 lost more than a quarter of their savings, on average, according to an Employee Benefit Research's Institute analysis of 22 million participants in more than 55,000 employer-sponsored 401(k) plans. Investors in the $100,000 to $200,000 range suffered as well, with an average loss of 21 percent in 2008. The typical account with $50,000 to $100,000 lost 15 percent."

With fear over 401k losses, the mortgage crisis and general economic woes many americans are beginning to cut back. Living less large and investing in sustainable housing and technology is beginning to look more attractive to the average consumer, especially with looming plans for "cap and trade". Perhaps some well placed trailer parks could serve as retirement communities for those that dont mind cutting back on space in order to retain an anticipated standard of living. Well designed walkable trailer park communities could be a good fit for boomer retirees and could become a new responsible living opportunity for the next generation.

geothermal

2009-06-16T07:52:00.001-07:00

Geothermal climate control is one of the most economically feasible sustainable technologies available today. Because of TerraCourt's mobility the installation of such infrastructure would be relatively painless. If bundled with a stormwater detention pond the system would both increase efficiency and the aesthetics of the area.

passive architecture

2009-06-15T10:18:00.000-07:00

some passive designs found on TREEHUGGER.com

Biogas

2009-06-14T14:06:00.001-07:00

Biogas Cylinder
Organic waste = compost + biogas = energy
image: http://ctrade.org/images/biogas2.jpg

2009-06-14T13:52:00.000-07:00

Clayton i-house http://claytonihouse.com/

An example of what could be the future of sustainable modular home design. Modular homes are efficient to build, precisely designed and executed, and the best part is because of mass production they are modestly priced.

Thesis:

2009-06-12T08:04:00.000-07:00

TerraCourt is a reivention of the "trailer park". Expanding upon the quality features of the trailer park community such as: density, pedestrian scale streetscape and modular housing along with instituting "green technology", trailer parks can become vibrant and attractive communities. If successfully executed "TerraCourt" will foster an evolution of the trailer park into a more sustainable and purposeful idea of community.