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by bombcar 388 days ago
Mobile homes and their ilk are horrible in fifteen billion ways, and it’s not a NIMBY thing.

Maybe in Southern California they can work but most everywhere else you end up spending lot rent + heating and it’s more than an apartment would be.
3 comments
phil21 388 days ago
They might be horrible but they are far less horrible than nothing.

Tenement housing is pretty horrible but way better than not being able to afford anything.

Boarding house rooms are horrible but better than not having a low cost/low commitment option while you figure things out.

Pretty much all of these existed a generation or two ago where I am from but are now completely gone and outright banned by city code. All done by supposed do-good era who had the best of intentions in mind.

We have completely removed the bottom rung of housing for anyone who needs to get started or fallen upon hard times. Once you fall you are simply not getting back up again.

Sometimes perfect is the enemy of good enough for now. I’d much rather live in a trailer home in Minnesota (and have!) than a tent or homeless on the street or in my car. There were very few other options available at the time. Less so now. Dealing with frozen pipes and only being able to afford to marginally heat one bedroom to 50 degrees during a cold spell is luxury to some folks.

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giantg2 388 days ago
One scenario they're good for is if you own the land and need something to save up for a few years when planning/building your house. Although with the advances in modular and tiny houses, they don't seem to be the best option for that anymore either.
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bombcar 388 days ago
They can work in some cases, but they should almost always be considered temporary housing (as they quickly cost more to maintain than they’re worth).

Of course some modular homes that have a technical mobile part are a different story.

Around here the “live while building” is usually done with a garage with a small apartment above it.

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detourdog 388 days ago
The biggest drivers of housing cost from my POV is that our stringent building codes results(due to thorough inspections) in high quality homes.

The other driver is that there is plenty of affordable(good deals) in neighboring towns 15 minutes aways.

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