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What happens when the last rung of the housing ladder is sawed off? In Miami-Dade County, the disappearance of mobile home parks amounts to more than the erasure of an affordable housing option it is the dismantling of whole communities, leaving thousands scrambling for shelter in one of the nation’s most rent-burdened regions.
Less than a year ago, Li’l Abner Mobile Home Park in Sweetwater was home to nearly 900 families, many of them immigrants, retirees, and low-income workers. Today, its streets are silent, its trailers marked with red crosses and eviction notices. The land’s owner, Consolidated Real Estate Investments (CREI), is...
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Less than a year ago, Li’l Abner Mobile Home Park in Sweetwater was home to nearly 900 families, many of them immigrants, retirees, and low-income workers. Today, its streets are silent, its trailers marked with red crosses and eviction notices. The land’s owner, Consolidated Real Estate Investments (CREI), is redeveloping the site into a mixed-use project touted as “affordable and workforce housing.” Yet the new rents-more than $2,000 for a one-bedroom-well exceed the grasp of residents who once paid $700 to $1,200 a month for their lot space. If I live as a retiree with $1,200 and the rent is $2,000 or $3,000, that’s not affordable, said Mario Leiva, a former resident.
Maybe someone should send this quote to all the states with – or considering – rent control. When you enter into rent control, you set in motion the demolition of mobile home parks like Lil’ Abner.

