I have often thought that mobile home parks represent an exceptional opportunity for a community organizer.  If nothing else, mobile home parks usually offer a vibrant social network.  People really get to know their neighbors.

VISTA is going to hire a community organizer for just this opportunity.  The details of the job are listed here.

The King County, Washington City Council has articulated a set of discrete goals for the area’s mobile home parks. This follows work highlighted in an earlier blog entry about their efforts to tackle issues in mobile home parks.

In all, there are five planks to their agenda. The idea is to bring policy attention to the needs of these fonts of affordability. Indeed, the Council points out that almost 10 million Americans live in mobile home parks. There are more than 55,000 such parks in all. That count excludes the many mobile homes set on individual lots. Of those 10 million, the Council says that more than three-quarters are considered low-income.

“The price of housing in King County is putting tremendous strain on both seniors and people of my generation – young, first-time homebuyers,” said Councilmember Reagan Dunn. “With a median home price of $465,000 in King County, the bar to home ownership has been raised far above the heads of many middle class families. We are looking to protect affordable housing stock wherever it is threatened.”

The next step will take place on Sept. 30th, when the County Executive reports on the initial implementation of the plan.

A mobile home park in Vermont stands to remain open now that Vermont’s leading mobile home non-profit owner appears ready to buy the park.

The Bennington Banner is reporting that the Green Mountain Mobile Home Park can avoid foreclosure by LaSalle National Bank.  LaSalle wants to settle debts held by the park owner, US 7 Highway Holdings, LLC.  (more…)

One of the novel suggestions out there for empowering mobile home park residents is to give them some protection against the costs of a park closure. Some municipalities and states have even provided residents with access to funds in the event of a closure. One such city is Gainesville, Florida, where park residents can get $3,000 to help defray the costs of a mass eviction.

That is an idea that probably helps a lot of people get through what would otherwise be an absolute crisis.

Imagine having your entire neighborhood cleared. I read a novel where that happened, but it was set in Mumbai during a period known as “The Emergency.” Not in regular times, and not in Gainesville, Florida, or anywhere else in the United States, for that matter. It goes against most of the assumptions that I know as a homeowner.  Yet, it is a reality for a lot of Americans.
Buck Bay Mobile Home Park in Gainesville, Florida has 144 lots. A developer has purchased the park and plans to build single family homes on the site. The park will be redeveloped within a year, and residents are already scrambling to find new lots.

If you look closely, this is really an example of where the best intentions of one department worked against the efforts another city agency (Planning and Zoning).

Although Gainesville has the program set up to offer each displaced homeowner funds for (more…)

The Town Council of Windsor, California approved a motion that will pave the way for Sacramento-based Resident-Owned Parks to purchase the Windsor Mobile Country Club Park.

The Town Council gave its approval for the deal.  The Park houses a group of senior citizens on fixed incomes.  The park has 336 lots.

The deal is interesting because it illustrates how mobile home parks can become (more…)