Some families who like living in these homes enjoy the mobility and carefree life of trailers. However, they still have these rules to abide by.

More than 20 million people living in the U.S. live in manufactured housing also known as trailers or mobile homes. Most people used trailers for touring and vacationing, but when the U.S. economy went down from 1929 to 1939 (known as the Great Depression), this suddenly changed. Many people had no choice but to move into these mobile structures and make them permanent homes out of necessity rather than preference.

Although not all people who live in trailers are poor, most people tend to unfairly think negatively of these types of homes. Society has also gone as far as labeling the people who live in these houses and communities. However, this stigmatization largely depends on the state the manufactured homes are located in. In Michigan for example, people who live in trailers do not face any stigma. On the other hand, families living down south face discrimination for living in such houses.

Even so, there are trailer stereotypes who live up to the nickname. It's not just the financials tied to trailer park life, it's the crime associated with people who dwell in manufactured housing as well. Thankfully, most are not bothered by maintaining the properties they live in or the names darted their way.

Some families who like living in these homes especially enjoy the mobility and carefree life of trailers. However, these people do not have the permission to do the following:

Families who live in trailer parks cannot set their own rules and restrictions in the lot they live in. This is because the space outside is communal and in most cases, the park owners are usually the ones who set the rules and regulations on what can and cannot be done in their lots.

As stated by therichest.com, one cannot install carports, patios, an AC, a washer and dryer, or replace beat-up stairs and add an awning on the lot without building permits from the town or prior approval from management. Ignoring to do so can lead to immediate lease termination and evacuation.

Because the park owners are the ones who set most of the rules and policies regarding their property, the majority do not allow families living in their parks to keep pets. This is generally because this space is communal and sometimes pets can be a nuisance. They can wander off into other people's homes and cause havoc or they can make noise, which is inconveniencing to other people’s peace.

Some pet owners will also ignore rules about where to walk their animals or refuse to clean up after them and this is why a good number of parks ban them entirely. According to campgroupreviews.com, there are also those few people who keep pets but mistreat and neglect them.

One of the challenges for families living in trailer parks is that they cannot make their location a permanent home. This is because the majority of occupants live in rented trailers and those who own their trailers rent the space that their property sits on, which in most cases is usually a park.

In some cases, owners of a particular piece of land can even sell it with hardly any notice to the occupants, which forces them to move out if the new owner has other plans for the property. As nolo.com points out, the value of these trailer homes does not appreciate and cannot pay off down the line; therefore, they are not ideal for forever homes.

Trailers can provide shelter for a person but they are not necessarily safe to stay in especially during extreme weather. This is because trailer park homes sit on temporary foundations unlike other built homes, which sit on permanent foundations. Therefore, they are more prone to losses when natural calamities such as tornados, hurricanes, earthquakes, and floods strike.

For decades, people have referred to these houses as tornado magnets or tinderboxes, which is one of the reasons these houses are so affordable. As stated by nolo.com, trailer homes are nowhere near stick built homes when it comes to safety during extreme weather, but they are improving with time.

It is difficult for families in the trailer parks to maintain hygiene especially if their neighbors are not concerned about it. According to FoxNews, rodents and insects like to make homes where there is litter and once they find an ideal place, they normally start breeding. Eventually, when they cannot get their fill from the litter, they will start creeping inside houses to look for food.

If people are not quick to cut down the growing rodent population, they will have a hard time getting rid of them. The park will also become a breeding ground for these animals and because owners rarely do any maintenance, such families will have to stick with these annoying vermin.

Families living in trailer parks are prone to vandalism. This is because many of the people who live there each have their own life frustrations. Some get disappointed with the state of their lives and resort to bad lifestyle choices. When not in their right frame of mind, these people can do all sorts of annoying things including vandalizing other people’s property.

Trailer parks have also had a reputation of being the ideal homes for people who do not have jobs, and gangs can easily influence such people to join them. Some of these gangs may have no objective other than to cause havoc in the neighborhood.

Wherever there are children, there is bound to be talking, laughing, screaming, crying, and just overall, noise. Families in trailer parks cannot have peace and quiet and because the trailers are small, family members and neighbors must learn to coexist in the shared spaces.

The walls in a trailer are also paper thin, so one cannot only hear the people outside but also the TV or noises in another trailer. Even if one wants to, they can hardly escape the noise. According to winniebagolife.com, Bryanna who lives in an RV park says that accommodating neighbors and letting kids be is sometimes very hard.

Growing up in a trailer park is different than growing up in a built-in home. Parents in trailer parks do not lead the same lives as other people in standalone houses or apartments do. A good number of kids living in parks do not have designated sleeping time even on school nights. They can stay out late at night or hang around with the adults until the wee hours of the night. Of course, this changes with families, but most families who live in these homes have a carefree attitude. This is because people always watch out for one another including the kids, as stated by mobilehomeliving.com.

Most trailer houses do not have proper amenities in them; this is why they come cheap. This also means that families who live there cannot enjoy proper utilities as revealed by FoxNews. The electricity, for example, can easily go off due to overload along the lines resulting from the use of multiple appliances.

Having a constant supply of water is also rare especially in the winter. When the pipes freeze, the owners do not do much and therefore families have to go several days without water. In other parks, families also lack proper sewer systems and others have litter scattered all over because they cannot afford to pay for trash collection.

Surprisingly, families living in trailer homes cannot be full homeowners. Even if the family owns its own trailer, they will still have a landlord to deal with. They have to pay rent for the area they occupy in the park and leave by the rules of the park owners.

On the other hand, having rules may also come with advantages. Rules limit people and unruly people who cannot live with other people in peace have to look for accommodation elsewhere. According to mobilehomesell.com, it is possible to be a full homeowner if one can afford to purchase the land. However, it is very difficult to find an owner who will sell small chunks of land.

Families living in trailer parks do not have the luxury of choosing the quality of their neighborhood. In the U.S., a common feature of trailer parks is the fact that they are located in bad neighborhoods, usually in low-income areas. The trailers do not have the same structures, surfaces, and amenities that regular built homes have.

They barely have yard space or lawns and there is a high chance of having mud everywhere during the rainy season. This is often the case given that those who live in such places can only afford cheap housing with hardly anything to spare for maintenance of a desirable neighborhood. Therichest.com also discloses that such neighborhoods are associated with high crime rates.

Another surprising thing that families in trailer parks cannot do is raise a huge family well. Most trailer park homes have small rooms and generally little square footage. Kids are very playful, they run up and down; jump on beds and with limited space they can get hurt.

Most families can manage to stay here when their kids are small but once they grow up, the space feels very cramped. As the kids grow, some parents have to make temporary adjustments in the living room floor for the kids to sleep. Such houses are more suitable for individuals and childless couples.

It was common for young people to live in mobile homes in the 1960s. It was not a big deal as it was how young people started out life and made a place for themselves. However, these days, society believes that people who live in trailers are poor who partake in unsavory actions, as stated by mobilehomesell.com.

This means that families who stay in trailer parks have to live with this label on their back. Their small space and lives are disregarded by many no matter of how clean or well kept they are. This is not fair because these families subscribe to all good values just like any other well off citizen.

Generally, trailer parks have a reputation of being homes to ill-intentioned people and ex-cons who cannot afford proper homes, therefore, families cannot trust all their neighbors. As much as people do not like living with ex-cons, sometimes it is unavoidable. The good thing is the department of corrections and the sheriff’s departments monitor these houses, according to therichest.com.

When convicts get out of jail after serving their time, most of them take time to find decent jobs which means they have to look for cheap accommodation. They rarely start trouble where they live because they are under constant watchful eyes. The presence of sheriffs and state officials also chase away dealers and criminals.

It is very difficult for families to get fancy designed trailer homes especially in a location where they have been mass-produced. The design choices, especially for the old trailers, are quite limited. A majority of these homes come in the shape of a shoebox. It was only recently that people started coming up with different unique designs.

According to mobilehomesell.com, redesigning and remodeling trailer houses costs a lot of money. People who want custom designs are often left disappointed when contractors give them the estimated cost of building their own design from scratch. Therefore, regular dwellers would rather stick to the shoebox design that they can afford.

For a home to maintain its aesthetic beauty, the owners have to conduct routine repair and maintenance. Some common repairs include redoing carpeting, paint walls, or plumbing works. Although trailer homes do not have the normal drywall ceilings or normal floors, sometimes repairs can be a nightmare, especially because in most cases occupants have to do the repairs themselves.

The manufacturing techniques used in trailer homes are a bit complex. According to mobilehomepartsstores.com, a small leak on the roof can cause serious losses in such a short time. However, with the right parts, a little knowledge, and the good old-fashioned hard work, it is possible to do these repairs.

Proper insulation is another amenity some families living in trailer parks have to do without. This greatly affects how they function during extreme seasons. While the new trailers may have better insulation, the old ones have little to no insulation.

According to mobilehomesell.com, people mostly install insulation to prevent loss of heat during winter and to retain heat during the summer. Since the majority cannot afford to do proper insulation, they have to rely on house heaters and open fires to keep themselves warm in the winter. During summer, they normally dress down and cool themselves by opening their fridges.

Trailer parks are usually a viable housing option for people living on low or fixed incomes. Majority of these houses are just one room houses or one-bedroom houses, therefore members of families living in them do not get to have a lot of privacy. Everyone is always in each other’s business, as stated by winniebagolife.com.

Even outside, the design of most trailer parks leads to the trailers parking so close to one another; families barely get any space to themselves. When a baby cries at night, neighbors four spaces down can hear the cry. When the neighbor’s kids also decide to play loud music there is nothing one can do about the noise.

Kids living in trailer parks can spend their afternoons roaming their neighborhood going for adventures. They usually form good friendships and look out for each other despite all the negativity associated with such neighborhoods.

For this reason, a majority of parents do not have to keep checking on their kids when they are outside playing. Chances are they are within view of a parent or two who are outdoors going about their day. However, the safety of the kids greatly depends on the neighborhood and community at large. According to offbeathome.com, some communities do not allow kids to loiter around on their own.

Families that live in trailer parks usually choose these homes because they can only afford low-cost housing. Therefore, it is rare to find a person splurging money on unnecessary things. Even those who earn well cannot afford to spend money on luxuries, as they are there to save money and probably clear debts that got them into their current state.

A person spending money recklessly would mean that he or she could afford better housing. Living lavishly can even attract robbery and it is not really encouraged in such neighborhoods. However, as therichest.com points out, there are communities with high-end trailer park homes which only the ‘upper-class’ can afford.

Sources: winnebagolife.com, offbeathome.com, nolo.com, mobilehomeliving.org, campgroundreviews.com, foxnews.com, mobilehomesell.com, mobilehomepartsstore.com, therichest.com

I have been a writer since 2012, and have enjoyed the journey thus far. When I am not busy writing like there's no tomorrow, I enjoy spending time with my three daughters and watching Netflix.