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WSBT: Recycled shipping containers could bring life back to mobile home park in Marshall County

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MARSHALL COUNTY, Ind. (WSBT) — A new, non-traditional, housing community could be on the way in Marshall County.

It would turn a former mobile home park into an upscale residential area.

The proposed plans are for 33 two-story homes made out of shipping containers that are meant to last 200 years.

Thomas Landgrebe got the idea for the homes after building the modular home museum in Elkhart, which is now in the RV hall of fame.

He wants to take the old Maple Leaf Mobile Home Park on Michigan Road, between LaPaz and Plymouth, and create affordable housing for the community.

“It will be very much like a condominium. With this, it'll be like...

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Our thoughts on this story:

Back before Zappos founder Tony Hsieh died in a tragic fire his personal assistant gave me a tour of his Airstream Village community in which he lived in downtown Las Vegas. She told me the story of how he originally wanted to make Airstream Village out of shipping containers (it ended up being Airstream RVs and tiny homes) but found them to be unsuitable from a utility cost standpoint (“they were like tiny ovens” she said). So that’s problem #1. But the bigger issue is that I don’t think that anyone will pay $200,000 to live in a shipping container in Indiana – and then pay lot rent on top of that. This is a product that might work on the beach or a mountaintop. But maybe I’m wrong.

Coastal View: Local mobile home park deserves better

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I have lived at the San Roque Mobile park for over 30 years now. I have seen many changes – some good, and far more bad ones. We have big potholes in our streets. Our park has become a trash mesh. Things get started and never get finished. Now they have closed off some of our streets, and the stupid gates are so silly indeed. This is not a nice place anymore for us!

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Our thoughts on this story:

“I have lived at the San Roque Mobile park for over 30 years now. I have seen many changes – some good, and far more bad ones. We have big potholes in our streets. Our park has become a trash mesh. Things get started and never get finished. Now they have closed off some of our streets, and the stupid gates are so silly indeed. This is not a nice place anymore for us!”

Translation: “You increased our rents, brought the old park back to life, and installed classy security gates – and we hate you for it!”. For every one of these type of residents there are 100 that are thrilled with the improvements and don’t mind paying higher rent to have a nicer property.

CBS Bay Area: Petaluma mobile home residents panicked by massive proposed rent increases

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PETALUMA -- Residents at a North Bay mobile home park say their landlord is retaliating against them for helping get new rent control ordinances passed in Petaluma. The tenants--all senior citizens--say they are terrified they could end up out on the streets.

The story begins in 2020 when the Youngstown Mobile Home Park was sold to new owners. Despite being a rent-controlled property, residents soon got a notice of rent increases of up to 40 percent.  

They fought the rent hike in arbitration and won, and then resident Jodi Johnson began lobbying for new city ordinances that would strengthen the rules around rent control. To her...

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Our thoughts on this story:

Wow, economics must be hard to grasp in the Bay Area. The owners are trying to save the park by raising the rents to market levels. Otherwise, as they explained to the residents, they will simply close the park and redevelop the land. But any way you cut it there’s no way that folks are going to continue to live in the San Francisco area at 1980s pricing. It’s really up to the residents how this movie ends – and the owners have been more than transparent.

The Times Record: State intervenes amid ongoing water problems at Wiscasset mobile home park

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After repeated water problems and outages dating back to February, the Maine Center for Disease Control is calling for the out-of-state owners of a Wiscasset mobile home park to drill a new well that can keep up with use.

 

Whippoorwill Hill Mobile Home Park residents have reported unscheduled water shut-offs and poor water quality over the past seven months, saying they haven’t been able to shower, wash their clothes or flush their toilets on multiple occasions. The property’s well was installed in 2020 but has run dry several times.

Maine CDC spokesperson Lindsay Hammes said Whippoorwill is contracting to get two potable water...

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Our thoughts on this story:

Sure, the headline is misleading. This quote from the owners is very sensible on an Act of God they had no control over:

Maine Real Estate Management has been working daily to coordinate with experts to resolve the problem and anticipate a new well being installed very soon. In the meantime, we have arranged for regular deliveries of water to fill the holding tanks, as well as supplemental drinking water deliveries,” the company wrote.

So what’s the problem here, other than the considerable expense to the owners until the new well gets drilled? Well, apparently, none of this is good enough for the residents who claim they don’t like the taste of the “imported water” and it messes up their washing machines (which I’m sure is a complete falsehood). If the residents don’t get a better attitude I’m sure there’s a land re-development plan in the making for this tract – and who would blame the owners?

Planetizen: Durango Mobile Home Park Residents Form Community Land Trust

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According to an article by Kirbie Bennett and Jamie Wanzek in High Country News, a Colorado manufactured housing community offers “one model for how to preserve affordable housing, with the potential to reshape housing in the West in a way that allows residents to guide the discussion.”

When threatened with a buyout by a notorious institutional investor, residents of the Westside Mobile Home Park banded together to make their own offer. “With the support of Elevation Community Land Trust, Westside’s residents were able to purchase their park, becoming one of the six community land trusts in Colorado. It was the first time that Elevation...

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Our thoughts on this story:

I guess the residents did not read the fine print. But it’s right there in the article:

In years to come, residents, with the help of the land trust, intend to redevelop the park by removing the trailers and transforming the units into homes. The co-op and land trust are currently in the early stages of redeveloping the park, and residents are leading those discussions.”

So all the trailer park folks are going to be going bye-bye and replaced with single-family homes which they will never qualify for or afford. And they voted for it! What would you call this: “political suicide”?

EPA: United States Files Complaint Against Oasis Mobile Home Park for Alleged Safe Drinking Water Act Violations

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OS ANGELES, Calif. – The Department of Justice, on behalf of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), filed a civil complaint in the United States District Court for the Central District of California today against the operators of Oasis Mobile Home Park, located in the Eastern Coachella Valley in Southern California. The complaint alleges that the Administrator of the Estate of Scott Lawson and a corporation called Lopez to Lawson, Inc. failed to properly maintain and operate Oasis’ primary drinking water well, treatment and distribution systems and wastewater system, and failed to perform corrective measures to protect the health...

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Our thoughts on this story:

I don’t know anything about this park or its water and sewer problems, but I do know the fundamental laws of economics and I’m sure that the heirs will simply condemn that park and sell the land off at a huge profit. 1,500 individuals will then be left homeless. It would have been much smarter for the government to make the required repairs for the late owner’s estate and then bill the park monthly until repaid in full. But, once again, it exemplifies that the most terrifying words in the English language are “I’m from the government and I’m here to help’. In this case the quote would be “I’m from the government and I’m here to help you be homeless”. Does nobody from the government realize that there’s no way the heirs are going to do any of this incredibly costly cap-x work when the land is worth more than the park in all likelihood and they probably just want to settle the estate?

Architectural Digest: 7 Stylish Mobile Homes Owned by Celebrities

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It’s common practice for A-listers to have trailers on set. A cozy mobile home-away-from-home outfitted with all the amenities they could need—packed into a sensible 600 or so square feet—is an oasis-like respite on long shoot days. Mobile homes also serve as secondary off-the-job home bases for some celebrities who’ve found themselves drawn in by the allure of an Airstream, the practicality of a downsized existence, or simply the freedom of an untethered dwelling that allows one to make themselves at home anywhere on and along the open road. Though they’re more strongly associated with a working-class lifestyle, there are mobile home...

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Our thoughts on this story:

Let’s be honest: these are not celebrities – these are “has-beens”. Nobody is leaving Bel Air for the trailer park if they are doing well in their movie careers. Tom Hanks should not even be on this list as he only used an RV on-set. The others would dump their “tiny” home in one second if they could amass enough cash to buy a decent house in the Hollywood Hills. I know that there is so much media out there today that writers struggle for content, but these type of articles insult our intelligence.

High Country News: How a mobile-home park saved its community from a corporate buyout

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On a quiet day this spring, Alejandra Chavez walked into her office at Westside Mobile Home Park in Durango, Colorado. Residents were gathered in the community space, discussing their plans for the park’s future, some leaning on the kitchen’s baby-blue counters while others sat in plastic lawn chairs. A year ago, this building was owned by a New York corporation and was off-limits to residents. But now, residents use the space for yoga, child care and community events. That afternoon, there were piñatas in the corner, left over from a recent birthday party. 

Not long ago, 63 families at Westside faced the threat of displacement. In...

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Our thoughts on this story:

OK, this is virtually cut-and-paste #4 this week on the topic of how great the world would be if the tenants owned the parks:

After months of fundraising and working with the Denver-based nonprofit Elevation Community Land Trust, Westside made a successful offer and formed a housing co-operative. Now owned jointly by its residents and Elevation, the park operates as a community land trust, which removes land from the real estate market and transforms it into community-owned property. Two decades after she first arrived in Durango, Chavez, a DACA recipient, is now the park’s property manager and the co-op’s vice president.Their voices will be heard now. They weren’t listened to before.

Are you brainwashed yet?

The Alamance News: Complaint filed in superior court to force town of Green Level to turn over public records related to May 2023 rezoning

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A complaint and petition for a writ of mandamus (i.e., a request for a court order) has been filed in Alamance County civil superior court to compel the town of Green Level to turn over public records related to a rezoning decision for two mobile home parks decided at a special meeting on May 30, 2023.

The complaint and petition has been filed by the companies that own two mobile home parks within the town of Green Level’s jurisdiction: Personalized Village II, which owns Otter Creek Mobile Home Park at 2648 and 2606 East Simpson Road; and Green Level MHC, which owns the Green Level Mobile Home Community at 2156 James Boswell Road,...

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Our thoughts on this story:

Wait a minute … are you saying that a city hall might have violated the law and now won’t hand over any of the notes or minutes from the meeting? That they are refusing transparency regarding their actions? Welcome to the new U.S.A.

Cleveland: Cleveland MetroParks should maintain Euclid Beach mobile home park as affordable housing

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I love the Metroparks. The abundance of conservation, education, and recreation that they provide is phenomenal.

I am also concerned about housing justice. There is a significant shortage of affordable, accessible housing in Cleveland and across Northeast Ohio. Therefore, I am concerned about the destruction of existing affordable housing at the Euclid Beach Mobile Home Community in favor of the expansion of Euclid Creek Reservation. Cleveland Metroparks could play a key role in keeping the Euclid Beach Mobile Home Community open.

Cleveland Metroparks is the crown jewel of greater Cleveland. This free, public park system is vital...

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“I am also concerned about housing justice. There is a significant shortage of affordable, accessible housing in Cleveland and across Northeast Ohio. Therefore, I am concerned about the destruction of existing affordable housing at the Euclid Beach Mobile Home Community in favor of the expansion of Euclid Creek Reservation. Cleveland Metroparks could play a key role in keeping the Euclid Beach Mobile Home Community open.”

Gee, not another article about how great it would be if residents owned their own parks? What a coincidence!

Reminds me of the story of Esther Sullivan, the Associate Professor in Boulder, CO who took credit for causing virtually every negative industry article for a several year period (including John Oliver). It’s amazing that U.S. media is so lame that single individuals can pervert the entire media conglomerate to take the wrong position on a macro scale – and that Americans are dumb enough not to spot this manipulation.

Virginia Mercury: Project:HOMES marries compassion to innovation at Chesterfield, Va.’s Bermuda Estates

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Claudia Guerrero Barrera enjoys her role as community engagement specialist for Virginia-based housing nonprofit project:HOMES, spending afternoons sitting around a kitchen table, drinking coffee, and chatting with women in the Bermuda Estates neighborhood of Chesterfield. 

They discuss their relief at having persuaded the county to place a school bus to stop in their newly paved cul-de-sac, so the children no longer have to wait on a busy strip of Route 1. They nibble on homemade treats, sharing plans for parties they’ll have at the community center once it is finished.

Less than two years ago, Claudia had never heard of Bermuda Estates...

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Our thoughts on this story:

There’s one item completely left out of this article:

Less than two years ago, Claudia had never heard of Bermuda Estates Mobile Home Park, and the Bermuda Estates residents she now shares easy chatter with were at that time fearful of being forced out of their homes. The owner, J&J Equities, LLC, was selling the park, and the prospective buyer planned to redevelop the land and build townhomes. This meant the nearly 40 families living at Bermuda Estates would be displaced, their homes, meticulously tended rose gardens and memories plowed under to make way for new homes that would not be affordable to them.

That item is what did they pay?

My bet is that they paid $100,000 per lot or more. And then you have to ask yourself “wouldn’t these people just be better off if they took the $100,000, relocated to a cheaper place than Virginia, and bought a nice stick-built house for cash?”

This whole “let’s buy the park to fend off redevelopment” nonsense is really nothing more than virtue signaling by bureaucrats and non-profits who want acclaim for saving 40 households housing when, for the same money, they could have paid for 160 people to go to college, or 800 people to renovate their homes and lower their utility costs.

Portland Press Herald: Letter to the editor: Wiscasset mobile home park plagued by poor management

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Last winter, the residents of Whippoorwill Hill Mobile Home Park in Wiscasset struggled with continuous shutdowns of its water supply and the park’s failure to maintain its roads and ditches. This problem continues today.

The park’s management, Maine Real Estate Management of Bangor, has ordered water to be trucked in from outside, but these water supplies become contaminated because there are leaks in the water supply pipes that park management has failed to repair. Consequently, a number of the park’s residents, including two young children, recently developed ear infections while attempting to bathe or shower in the contaminated... Read More

Our thoughts on this story:

Last winter, the residents of Whippoorwill Hill Mobile Home Park in Wiscasset struggled with continuous shutdowns of its water supply and the park’s failure to maintain its roads and ditches. This problem continues today..Meanwhile, during the past two years, Maine Real Estate Management and its anonymous owner have raised the park’s lot rents by nearly 66%, all while failing to fix the problems that are causing physical harm to all of our residents at the park.

Well, I guess we all know what comes next. Goodbye mobile home park and hello new apartment complex. And the resident who wrote this letter to the editor will get top billing for causing the park to shut down. If you read the article, the owner is trucking in water until the repairs are completed, which costs a fortune. Yet they get zero respect from the residents. There are two sides to every story, and I’m betting $50 that the park owner is in the right here. They are trying to save the park and bring it back to life, and a few loud residents are fighting them every step of the way.

Superior Telegram: Douglas County to fund mobile home park cleanup

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SUPERIOR — Douglas County plans to clean up two mobile home parks in Parkland using money from the American Rescue Plan Act.

The Administration Committee on Thursday, Aug. 3 recommended spending up to $200,000 to remove 23 mobile homes that remain on two sites that served as the north and south Country Acres Trailer Parks on Douglas County Highway E. The money will be used for asbestos abatement, demolition and the removal of mobile homes.

The decision came after the county twice attempted to sell the property under the condition the trailers would be removed from the sites. In June, the county received no bids for the property, and...

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Our thoughts on this story:

I don’t know any of the facts on this story, but the optics to me, the reader, is that Douglas County succeeded in their mission to get rid of these mobile home parks:

Justag LLC was one of the bidders rejected in July because plans for the properties included creating a mobile home park or manufactured home community with 59 sites.Creating a mobile home park on the sites again would require a zoning change, which is unlikely to gain support from Parkland town officials or the county, Liebaert said. The mobile home parks preexisted zoning regulations adopted in the 1970s, he said. The property is currently zoned for residential development and a mobile home park would require commercial zoning, he said.”

As I recall the county took over these properties claiming they were in substandard condition. Then they were going to sell them off, but the only bidder wanted to operate them as mobile home parks. So they killed that off as fast as they could.

This is the reality of city/county attitudes regarding affordable housing. They don’t really want it at all, but to say that might trigger cancel culture so they instead come up with these absurd stories of how it wasn’t really their fault.

KGUN: City of Tucson calling architects, designers for casita model competition

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The city of Tucson's planning and development services announced it's launching a competition directed at architects and designers.

To participate, these professionals will submit designs of casitas, or accessory dwelling units (ADUs), to help streamline the planning and building process for the city and future homeowners.

AARP is funding the competition with the 2023 Community Challenge grant in order to "enhance further efforts in promoting casitas as an inclusive and adaptable housing option for the community."

Dan Bursuck, who is a part of Tucson's development department, said the team met with officials from other cities, like...

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Our thoughts on this story:

I really like this idea. I have long thought that affordable housing (yes, including mobile homes) are not nearly as attractive as they could be. The industry needs some fresh ideas and I have no doubt that a gifted college student may well contribute the idea that revolutionizes the way housing looks. I see all these cool designs in European design magazines at the bookstore and wonder why the U.S. can’t come up with its own fresh ideas. Maybe this contest will make something happen. It can’t hurt.

KESQ News Team: Families displaced by DHS mobile home park fire asked to pay $10,000 for debris clean up

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Although families displaced by a destructive fire two weeks ago in Desert Hot Springs have a place to stay for now, they say they are filled with concern.

The fire at the County Squire Mobile Home Park on July 18 damaged 14 homes and 12 vehicles, leaving 100 residents evacuated.

On Thursday, families told News Channel 3/Telemundo 15's Marco Revuelta that they were sent a letter by the owners of the mobile home park demanding $10,000 by August 14 to be able to clean up the burned debris or they'll have to do it themselves.

Affected residents say it's another challenge being added to their plate given they are also looking for new...

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Our thoughts on this story:

A mobile home is a parking lot. If your car burns down you still are responsible to remove the car and pay the rent until it’s gone. It’s not rocket science. But instead, here’s what the residents are saying:

"We're very frustrated because we've been left in the streets. We've been left on the street, nothing left. If I haven't been able to find a home because I have no money, how am I supposed to pay for this?" said Martin Verduzco, a resident who lost his home due to the fire. 

What the park owner is doing is following the legal methodology to remove the burned homes themselves. Somebody’s got to do it. Obviously, the residents are not going to. The park owner ends up paying the bill, as usual.

Instead of the writer of this article pointing out that the park owner is the good guy who is actually taking it on the chin, they portray the residents – who are neglecting their legal responsibility – as the heroes. When will the U.S. fixation on lack of personal accountability ever end?

WCAX: Flooding had outsized impact on 4 Vermont mobile home communities

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BERLIN, Vt. (WCAX) - Just as it did during Tropical Storm Irene, the flooding last month had an outsized impact on Vermont’s mobile home communities, throwing residents’ lives into disarray.

The Berlin mobile home park was one of the hardest hit communities hit during the floods. Many senior and low-income people lived in what now looks like a ghost town.

“It’s going to take a lot of money to get this back to where it was before. I lost my driveway, my property, it’s underneath this bank,” said Mark Christie, the owner of a mobile home in Barre whose house was decimated in a landslide during the deluge. He now finds himself at a...

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Our thoughts on this story:

The state has been extremely clear about the steps to get people back on their feet:

State leaders Tuesday laid out the next steps for mobile homeowners like Christie -- register with 211 and FEMA, ask for a certificate of condemnation from your town, and don’t demolish your home until the FEMA award process is complete.

The problem is that – despite getting between $20,000 and $50,000 on average – the residents don’t want to wait. This kind of reminds me recently of the article in which the park residents were going to file a class action lawsuit against an owner because the power was off for three hours.

I have had my own electricity lost in a storm for a week when it was 100 degrees out. I have had my water knocked out for days when a pipe ruptured and it was too cold to dig. It’s called life. You can’t deal with life without some degree of patience and apparently Vermonters don’t have a lot of it at the moment.

CBS Colorado: Clear Creek County mobile home parks in trouble with skyrocketing rent: "We are in danger of losing it"

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Right now some Colorado residents are fighting tooth and nail to try and remain in their homes, some of which they've lived in for decades in Clear Creek County. 

The county has a collection of four mobile home parks that are up for sale right now. If they sell, new owners or property managers could raise their rents, or try to build on those properties and remove their homes altogether. That being said, those parks are potentially eligible for help from the state or county, if they can find grants to have the county purchase the parks and keep rents low. 

CBS News Colorado talked with several residents from those parks whose hope now...

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Our thoughts on this story:

I’m afraid these residents are in for a rude awakening:

“The county has a collection of four mobile home parks that are up for sale right now. If they sell, new owners or property managers could raise their rents, or try to build on those properties and remove their homes altogether. That being said, those parks are potentially eligible for help from the state or county, if they can find grants to have the county purchase the parks and keep rents low”. 

Most bureaucrats talk a big game until you ask them to write a check and then they hide under their desks. Similarly, any new buyer will surely raise the rents significantly as these parks look to be mismanaged from the photo and will require new professional leadership and capital expenditure, and that will almost certainly require higher rents. And, of course, they are also in a prime position for redevelopment.

Any way you cut it, the probable outcome is that the parks will either be torn down or the rents will go up. I see little chance of the bureaucrats rushing in to save the day as you could make the same argument that they should buy the local apartments, too, and the list goes on and on.

Nobody really appreciates mobile home parks until they are on the verge of going away – kind of like some sad country western song.

Marin Independent Journal: Marin Voice: Novato’s mobile-home community checks many ‘blue zone’ boxes

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Did the state ask how you’re doing?

Last week, I found a survey in my mailbox from the California Department of Aging inquiring about whether I was securely housed or feeling lonely or getting adequate nutrition. It was a comfort to me that my state was pursuing all the right questions, whether or not this particular agency had any solutions at hand.

I have a great deal of familiarity defining those solutions, as a medical anthropologist teaching behavioral and integrative health. I’ve lectured at national conferences and published peer-reviewed journal articles about the value of social connections and ways to harness the social...

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Our thoughts on this story:

OK, do you spot the scam going on in the media right now:

“It occurred to me that 90% of the questions in this four-page survey were satisfied by my local community, Marin Valley Mobile Home Country Club (MVMCC). It is a close-knit mobile home park of over 400 residents, owned by the city of Novato since 1997, with competent oversight from an elected group of residents. Novato doesn’t provide these healthy living activities, such as yoga or book clubs, as recommended in the survey, but the residents themselves provide them through volunteer commitments.However, the city has provided security and stability by serving as a nonprofit entity-owner, with reasonable, affordable rents. A defined 40% of the lots are reserved for low-income residents.”

There are only around 300 resident-owned mobile home parks in the U.S. out of 44,000 parks. So this is all nonsense and not worthy of this much media time.

So why are there suddenly a ton or articles on how great life is when residents own their own communities? Clearly, this is a big media push that is being promoted by a number of non-profits behind the scenes that are trying to brainwash Americans (and politicians) that this is the greatest idea since sliced bread.

Smart people will spot that this is a scam and not buy it. But unfortunately, idiots will.

The Center Square: Manufactured homeowners rally for lot rent caps

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Residents of manufactured home communities often face the same problem: constantly rising lot rental fees that some critics say “predatory” investors use to hold residents “hostage.”

That’s why Sen. Judy Schwank, D-Reading, offered a simple solution that’s gained the approval of advocates long battling the issue: rent caps.

Senate Bill 861 would amend Act 261, creating a cap on yearly land rent increases on manufactured homes. Manufactured home communities provide a source of affordable housing for seniors, veterans, and individuals with disabilities on fixed incomes. Its companion, House Bill 805, was introduced by Rep. Liz Hanbidge,...

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Our thoughts on this story:

Before you get worked up, go to the end of the article that sheepishly mentions that the bill only restricts lot rent increases to one time per year and with no limitation. The writer kind of hyped up the rest including the title.

Basically, more pandering and virtue signaling to their voting base – with more than a little help from the media.

Thank heavens that most PA legislators know that actual rent control dooms all mobile home parks to almost certain redevelopment over time.

WJTV: Jackson leaders announce new affordable housing project

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JJACKSON, Miss. (WJTV) – Leaders with the City of Jackson and other organizations announced a new initiative to provide affordable housing in the community.

Jackson Mayor Chokwe A. Lumumba said the city will work in collaboration with the Mississippi Manufactured Housing Association, Rosemont Human Services and the Neighborhood Assistance Corporation of American on a project to build new, affordable housing.

The partnership will leverage manufactured homes to provide an accessible and sustainable housing solution for Jackson residents. They plan to open a demonstration home in Ward 4 at the corner of Halsey Avenue and General Patton...

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Our thoughts on this story:

A 1,300 sq. ft. home for $130,000 plus the cost of the land is not exactly a big deal. You can attain that in pretty much every city in the U.S.

But remember that Jackson is also the city that can’t even keep their public water system working for months now. I was there recently and the hotels have “boil water” signage at the registration desk (not sure how you do that in a hotel). Read about it here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jackson,_Mississippi,_water_crisis

Realizing it’s Jackson they probably messed up the decimal and it’s $1,300,000 for a 130 sq. ft. house. That’s more likely.

Austin Monitor: Housing costs analysis endorses changes in lots sizes, compatibility requirements

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City staff and researchers at the University of Texas looking to reduce housing costs have published their recommendations on policies for City Council to consider.

A memo published last week offers a broad overview of the current state of affordability and development costs in Austin. The analysis by the Development Services and Housing departments and UT’s LBJ School of Public Affairs was initiated following a 2021 resolution that directed the city manager to determine the causes of and possible solutions to Austin’s increasing housing costs.

The recommendations from the 2022 UT research paper “Local Affordable Housing Challenges:...

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Our thoughts on this story:

Great news Austin residents! City Hall is proposing to build next to your subdivision:

·         Accessory dwelling units

  • Rezoning manufactured housing communities
  • Low-income housing.

Better call your realtor and put your house on the market before more people find out what’s about to happen.

Daily Montanan: New housing model in Montana turns tenants into shareholders

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Collin Bangs got a phone call when the historic property on Wolf Avenue in Missoula went up for sale.

His daughter, Melissa Bangs, lives next door. She’d seen other apartment complexes sell, new owners hike up rents, and longtime residents displaced.

Collin Bangs, a developer in Missoula who has long worked in affordable housing, said his daughter told him a sale on the open market would devastate her neighbors.

“If that happens, half of those people will be homeless,” Bangs said his daughter told him.

She asked him to buy the property instead and hold onto it for a spell.

If he could buy it, she’d rally the tenants and housing...

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Our thoughts on this story:

Read this article closely as it’s nothing but smoke and mirrors. The public spends $1 million to build 8 housing units that are as small as 395 sq. ft. and which equates to $125,000 per unit. All this to save people $100 per month in rent using this goofy coop structure. The free market is good at this stuff and bureaucrats are not – so please stop with this stuff as you are embarrassing yourselves.

WCAX: Are Vermonters going to build back in the same flood-prone areas?

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BARRE, Vt. (WCAX) - Following this month’s devastating flooding, the state of Vermont is once again considering buying out homes in areas susceptible to future storms.

Mark Christie has lived on Oswald Street overlooking the Barre skyline for the last two decades. He says he intended to live in his nearly new mobile home until he retired from his career working at GlobalFoundries.

But during the deluge two weeks ago, the hill behind his home broke away, sending a cascade of mud, trees, and sand downhill and turning his home 90 degrees and crushing it like a tin can. he says he was also temporarily trapped inside. “Everything that’s in...

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Our thoughts on this story:

This is an issue for each resident to decide. If you live in a flood zone, you get flooding. It’s called accountability. How can people suddenly wake up and say “oh my gosh, I didn’t know I could be flooded?” when they’ve known that from the onset. If the State of Vermont now steps in and says “you can’t live in flood zones” then many people who have planned for periodic flooding will lose the use of their property. Is that fair?

WENY: Clock Counting Down for Cherry Lane Park After New Agreement Executed

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SOUTHPORT, N.Y. (WENY) -- WENY News is taking a closer look at the licensing agreement between the town of Southport and Cherry Lane Park mobile home park on Sherman Avenue.

 

On July 17th, the Southport town board voted to approve a license agreement with Cherry Lane Park through December 31st, 2023. According to an agreement obtained by WENY News through a Freedom of Information request, Cherry Lane Park's owner has 10 days to apply for a demolition permit. Monday, July 31st is the tenth business day since the agreement was executed. The Southport town clerk informed WENY News there is no record on file at this time.

According...

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Our thoughts on this story:

More nonsense about back-seat driving residents and media reporters trying to second guess complicated land development issues – kind of like me trying to critique brain surgery.

The Islander Classifieds: Pines residents lack notice on trailer park sale

Preview:

Homeowners in the Pines trailer park have spoken.

Despite reports of an upcoming closing date for the sale of the Pines Trailer Park in Bradenton Beach, several Pines residents reached out to The Islander to insist they have received no official notice from the park owners or their lawyers.

David Graham, treasurer of the Pines homeowner’s association and others contacted The Islander July 25-July 29 by email, questioning a July 25 report in The Islander where a source stated a “closing is expected on or around Sept. 21.”

The Islander verified the source and their information.

“I am the treasurer of the HOA board of the park. I have been...

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Our thoughts on this story:

The buyers are paying $16,250,000 ($200,000 per lot) for a rundown park. Exactly how would this not be a redevelopment deal? The reason the residents have probably not received notice is that the owner is not going to do so until after the deal has closed. How could anyone think that there will be any other outcome?