Industrializing housing through factory production : future or fantasy?

Thesis (M.C.P.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Urban Studies and Planning, 2009.Includes bibliographical references (p. 81-83).The purpose of this thesis is to review and assess the state of factory-built housing in the U.S., and to propose a business plan for a new approach. The thesis addresses the question: What would be a viable factory-based home building strategy for the Mid-Atlantic region of the U.S.? The thesis begins with research on the history and early ethos of the factory-built housing industry in conjunction with an analysis of the factory-built housing industry's current image, advantages, and challenges. To assess the image of the industry, a variety of common perceptions regarding the industry were explored. To isolate the specific advantages and challenges facing the industry, the thesis compares the relative and normalized costs of factory-built homes to site-built homes in addition to macro issues, like building regulations. The thesis also provides a synthesis of the research in the form of a business strategy. The business strategy takes the strengths identified in the initial research and couples them with a viable and forward looking development strategy suited to Pennsylvania's housing market. Key among the proposal's recommendations are using factory production to build secondary homes, like granny flats or summer cottages and marketing the homes as a community. The example given in the business plan includes developing infill retirement communities in small Pennsylvania towns. Other examples could include developing small vacation communities.by Jesse L. Hunting.M.C.P