Vancouver - the Road Home: To Live in a Mobile Home on Canada’s West Coast

Abstract

For the past number of years there has been an increase in mobile homes occupying city streets along Metro Vancouver and the West coast of Canada outside of permitted spaces. Their presence has been well noted by news organisations and internet platforms that routinely discuss their existence. The main question this thesis wishes to determine is why this phenomenon exists and what is propelling it to its current level of prominence. While such an unorthodox lifestyle is seen as a positive by some, others are weary of the social stigma surrounding mobile homes due to stereotypes of poverty that are often unfair. Based on a review of existing literature, observation notes and a series of interviews from eleven willing participants while in the Metro Vancouver area, I can say that one of the underlying pressures influencing people to live in a vehicular home in this region is the extreme gentrification responsible for high housing prices. In fact, urban mobile homes are part of a much larger trend of alternative housing strategies as minimalist living gains broader support to cut back on living costs. Despite these facts, mobile home dwellers come from all walks of life with different economic backgrounds and motivations. Thus, while lowering financial costs are an important part of the discussions around this phenomenon, they are by no means the sole reason. More interestingly the mobility of the homes themselves are part of the driving force in popularity, allowing occupants to more freely move around to see or do things they wish to partake in. This gives dwellers a better sense of control and autonomy over their own lives. Thus, mobile home dwellers should be seen less as impoverished squalors and more as a complex group of people whose motivations are far more intricate. Mobile homes are less a desperate housing solution for people on the verge of homelessness and more akin to a means to gain a personal sense of freedom beyond overcoming mere economic constraints.