A Profile-Based Approach to Indexing Housing Vulnerability in Tucson: A Case Study of Manufactured Housing

Keywords: housing vulnerability, housing insecurity; risk; uncertainty; logistic principal components analysis
Session Type: Virtual Paper Abstract
Day: Friday
Session Start / End Time: 2/25/2022 08:00 AM (Eastern Time (US & Canada)) - 2/25/2022 09:20 AM (Eastern Time (US & Canada))
Room: Virtual 69

Abstract

The unique characteristics of manufactured housing (MH) add further dimensionality to the vulnerability experienced by MH residents and complexity to policy innovation. We develop a novel approach for identifying populations of manufactured housing (MH) households most vulnerable to housing insecurity and mapping these populations to better understand their geographies. We apply Logistic Principal Components Analysis (LPCA) to census microdata from nearly 2,000 MH households in Pima County. This process reveals two MH households profiles whose constellation of vulnerability factors suggest they are more likely to be vulnerable to housing insecurity: (i) fixed-income seniors (FIS) and (ii) low-income households living in older homes (LIO). We then convert the profiles into MH-specific vulnerability indices and map them. We find that the most geographically widespread MH vulnerability profile in Tucson is Low-Income Older MH (LIO). Additionally, we find minimal spatial overlap of vulnerability profiles. We confirm our LPCA results by comparing these profiles with qualitative data from interviews with 72 Pima County MH residents. The resulting composite variables representing MH vulnerability allow us to ask more nuanced policy questions and better evaluate potential interventions.