Investment in Real Estate - Additional Information (Detail) (USD $)	1 Months Ended	3 Months Ended		12 Months Ended																			12 Months Ended	1 Months Ended				12 Months Ended			12 Months Ended						12 Months Ended						12 Months Ended
	Aug. 30, 2013	Sep. 30, 2013	Sep. 30, 2011	Dec. 31, 2013 integer	Dec. 31, 2012 integer	Dec. 31, 2011	Feb. 12, 2014	Jan. 03, 2014	Dec. 31, 2011 Acquired Property [Member] integer	Dec. 31, 2012 R V Resort [Member] integer	Dec. 31, 2013 Leases, Acquired-in-Place [Member]	Dec. 31, 2012 Leases, Acquired-in-Place [Member]	Dec. 31, 2011 Leases, Acquired-in-Place [Member]	Dec. 31, 2013 Land [Member]	Dec. 31, 2012 Land [Member]	Dec. 31, 2011 Land [Member]	Dec. 31, 2013 Depreciable Assets [Member]	Dec. 31, 2012 Depreciable Assets [Member]	Dec. 31, 2011 Depreciable Assets [Member]	Dec. 31, 2013 Manufactured Home [Member]	Dec. 31, 2012 Manufactured Home [Member]	Dec. 31, 2011 Manufactured Home [Member]	Dec. 31, 2013 Purchase Price Allocation Adjustments	Aug. 30, 2013 Manufactured Home [Member] integer	May 31, 2013 Manufactured Home [Member] integer	Aug. 01, 2013 Manufactured Home [Member]	May 08, 2013 Manufactured Home [Member]	Dec. 31, 2013 R V Resort [Member] integer	Dec. 17, 2013 R V Resort [Member]	Sep. 16, 2013 R V Resort [Member]	Dec. 31, 2013 Cascade [Member]	Dec. 31, 2013 Discontinued Operations [Member]	Dec. 31, 2012 Discontinued Operations [Member]	Dec. 31, 2011 Discontinued Operations [Member]	Jan. 24, 2014 Subsequent Event [Member] R V Resort [Member]	Jan. 07, 2014 Subsequent Event [Member] R V Resort [Member]	Dec. 31, 2012 New Credit Facilities [Member] Manufactured Home [Member] integer	Dec. 31, 2013 New Credit Facilities [Member] Manufactured Home [Member] integer	Dec. 31, 2013 New Credit Facilities [Member] R V Resort [Member]	Jan. 24, 2014 New Credit Facilities [Member] Subsequent Event [Member] R V Resort [Member]	Jan. 07, 2014 New Credit Facilities [Member] Subsequent Event [Member] R V Resort [Member]	Dec. 30, 2013 Cumulative Series D Six Percent Non-Qualified Preferred Stock [Member]	Dec. 31, 2013 Common Stock	Dec. 31, 2012 Common Stock	Dec. 31, 2011 Common Stock	Dec. 31, 2013 Redeemable Preferred Stock [Member]	Dec. 31, 2012 Redeemable Preferred Stock [Member]	Dec. 31, 2011 Redeemable Preferred Stock [Member]	Dec. 30, 2013 Cumulative Series E Eighteen Point Seventy Five Percent Non-Voting Preferred Stock [Member]	Dec. 31, 2013 Minimum	Dec. 31, 2011 Minimum	Dec. 31, 2013 Maximum	Dec. 31, 2011 Maximum
Real Estate Properties [Line Items]
Preferred Stock, Liquidation Preference Per Share																																										$ 1,000.00							$ 1,000.00
Land				$ 1,025,246,000	$ 984,224,000																											$ 0	$ 28,611,000
Escrow Share Distribution				90,805
Fair Value of Escrow Fund				1,900,000			800,000	1,100,000
Business Combination, Recognized Identifiable Assets Acquired and Liabilities Assumed, Property, Plant, and Equipment				133,393,000	25,000,000	1,424,700,000					3,910,000	2,099,000	74,000,000	41,022,000	4,410,000	471,500,000	87,306,000	18,491,000	855,200,000	1,155,000	0	24,000,000
Number Of Properties Disposed																									11
Community Base Rental Income				409,801,000	394,606,000	309,230,000																										11,565,000	19,564,000	9,621,000
Depreciation Expense Adjustment				3,500,000
Asset acquisition price adjustments period																							1 year
Number of acquired properties										2
Location																												Snoqualmie, Washington
Number of acquired sites					1,765	30,129																				1,207			284	324					682	490
Business Acquisition, Purchase Price					25,000,000	1,500,000,000																				102,000,000			7,300,000	24,600,000					16,600,000	7,600,000
Stock Issued During Period, Value, Acquisitions	9,700,000
Units Issued During Period, Shares, Acquisition	240,969
Business Acquisition, Equity Interest Issued or Issuable, Number of Shares						12,075,000
Number of manufactured home communities acquired																								3
Noncash, Issuance of Common OP Units				9,686,000	0	0
Number of Sites Disposed																									5,344			163
Purchase Price For Disposed Properties																											165,000,000
Gain (Loss) on Disposition of Real Estate, Discontinued Operations		40,600,000
Gain (Loss) on Sale of Property Plant Equipment				4,600,000
Proceeds from Sale of Property, Plant, and Equipment				7,600,000
Total Liabilities assumed				7,159,000	816,000	556,000,000
Proceeds from sale of property				157,975,000	7,564,000	252,000
Number of closed acquisition properties						75
Discontinued Operation, Gain (Loss) on Disposal of Discontinued Operation, Net of Tax				41,525,000	4,596,000	0																									1,000,000
Rental home income				14,267,000	11,649,000	7,245,000																										1,948,000	2,416,000	725,000
Utility and other income				63,800,000	62,470,000	53,116,000																										1,384,000	1,961,000	727,000
Disposal Group, Including Discontinued Operation, Revenue																																14,897,000	23,941,000	11,073,000
Disposal Group, Including Discontinued Operation, Operating Expense																																6,126,000	9,561,000	4,290,000
Disposal Group, Including Discontinued Operation, Operating Income (Loss)																																8,771,000	14,380,000	6,783,000
Gains (Losses) on Sales of Other Real Estate																																(78,000)	(110,000)	(26,000)
Disposal Group Including Discontinued Operation Other Income and Expenses																																332,000	868,000	566,000
Disposal Group, Including Discontinued Operation, Interest Expense																																(355,000)	(534,000)	(179,000)
Interest Expense, Debt				118,522,000	123,992,000	99,489,000
Disposal Group, Including Discontinued Operation, Depreciation and Amortization																																(1,537,000)	(8,488,000)	(6,597,000)
Income (Loss) from Discontinued Operations, Net of Tax, Including Portion Attributable to Noncontrolling Interest				48,658,000	10,712,000	547,000																										7,133,000	6,116,000	547,000
Business Combination, Recognized Identifiable Assets Acquired and Liabilities Assumed, Current Assets, Receivables				0	0	40,000,000
Business Combination, Recognized Identifiable Assets Acquired and Liabilities Assumed, Current Assets, Other				1,025,000	29,000	18,300,000
Business Combination, Recognized Identifiable Assets Acquired and Liabilities Assumed, Assets				134,418,000	25,029,000	1,483,000,000
Business Combination, Recognized Identifiable Assets Acquired and Liabilities Assumed, Noncurrent Liabilities				5,382,000	0	548,000,000
Business Combination, Recognized Identifiable Assets Acquired and Liabilities Assumed, Current Liabilities				1,777,000	816,000	8,000,000
Business Combination, Recognized Identifiable Assets Acquired and Liabilities Assumed, Net				127,259,000	24,213,000	927,000,000
Stock issued for acquisition properties																																											0	0	3,416,552	0	0	3,480,000
Business Acquisition, Equity Interest Issued or Issuable, Value Assigned																																													111,000,000			113,000,000
Number Of Pledged Properties				147	170				35																												1	22
Business Combination, Recognized Identifiable Assets Acquired and Liabilities Assumed, Noncurrent Liabilities, Long-term Debt						548,000,000																																	5,400,000	8,400,000	4,900,000
Business Acquisition, Cash Paid						344,000,000
Proceeds from Issuance of Unsecured Debt				0	0	200,000,000
Proceeds from Issuance of Long-term Debt			200,000,000	375,500,000	159,500,000	200,000,000																															74,000,000
Debt Instrument, Interest Rate, Stated Percentage Rate Range, Minimum				3.90%		0.00%
Debt Instrument, Interest Rate, Stated Percentage Rate Range, Maximum				8.90%		0.00%
Debt Instrument Maturity Year																																					2022		2022	2018	2017									2014	2012	2038	2023
Stockholders' Equity Note, Stock Split, Conversion Ratio		2
Land Improvements				2,667,213,000	2,565,299,000																											0	65,664,000
Buildings and Improvements, Gross				535,647,000	495,127,000																											0	32,591,000
Real Estate Investment Property, at Cost				4,228,106,000	4,044,650,000																											0	126,866,000
Real Estate Investment Property, Accumulated Depreciation				1,058,540,000	948,581,000																											0	15,077,000
Real Estate Investment Property, Net				$ 3,169,566,000	$ 3,096,069,000																											$ 0	$ 111,789,000