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Colonia Housing Conditions in Model Subdivisions: A Déjà Vu for Policy Makers

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  • Noah J. Durst
  • Peter M. Ward

Abstract

The informal self-help settlements in Texas known as colonias have received considerable attention as a public policy problem at both the state and federal levels. These settlements proliferated throughout the border region since the late 1970s and research has highlighted the extreme poverty, austere levels of infrastructure, exploitative land sale practices, and poor housing conditions that characterized these settlements. However, both scholars and policymakers have overlooked the continued spread of self-help settlements known as “model subdivisions,” which barring the presence of basic water, wastewater, and electricity services, are nearly identical to colonias. We present the results of household surveys conducted with residents in 24 model subdivisions in Hidalgo County, Texas, in June 2014. The results suggest that, unbeknown to legislators, many of the problems that characterized colonias are now being reproduced in hundreds of model subdivisions that have formed since the 1990s, and which now require concerted attention and intervention by policy makers.

Suggested Citation

  • Noah J. Durst & Peter M. Ward, 2016. "Colonia Housing Conditions in Model Subdivisions: A Déjà Vu for Policy Makers," Housing Policy Debate, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 26(2), pages 316-333, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:taf:houspd:v:26:y:2016:i:2:p:316-333
    DOI: 10.1080/10511482.2015.1068826
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    Cited by:

    1. Noah J Durst, 2019. "Informal and ubiquitous: Colonias, premature subdivisions and other unplanned suburbs on America’s urban fringe," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 56(4), pages 722-740, March.
    2. Durst, Noah J. & Sullivan, Esther & Huang, Huiqing & Park, Hogeun, 2021. "Building footprint-derived landscape metrics for the identification of informal subdivisions and manufactured home communities: A pilot application in Hidalgo County, Texas," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 101(C).

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