Gov. Jared Polis and Democratic state lawmakers unveiled the most significant land-use reform in decades last week. The sweeping new efforts to address Colorado’s housing crisis are focused on increasing residential density in the state’s cities and towns.

“This is how we will make more housing options for every Colorado budget in every community, drive down costs that are pricing Coloradans out of our homes and out of our neighborhoods,” Polis said.

The Common Sense Institute found Colorado had a housing shortage of 225,000 units in 2021, and the affordability of purchasing a home was the lowest in 33 years. According to the Bell Policy...

COLDWATER — After listening to residents of for nearly an hour Monday, the Coldwater Planning Commission unanimously voted to approve a special land use permit to expand Trail Tree Village manufactured housing development to the west by between 76 to 78 lots.

Concerns prompted the developer to propose and the commission to require four conditions and changes to the site plan before work on the undeveloped 17.86 acres can begin. 

Kim Scott, the representative of owner Cambio Communities of Southfield, agreed to make four changes in the site plan after hearing concerns:

• A buffer of two rows of pine trees between the project and Thompson...

RED BLUFF, Calif. - The Antelope Mobile Home Park is getting its own crime task force.  

Several people living at Antelope Homewood Mobile Home Park say trash, fire and crime have become all too common at the mobile home park. 

Some people said they've seen increased drugs and theft, and police answer calls here regularly.

"I've noticed a lot of the drug traffic that has increased here," one person said. "A lot of the kids aren't able to come out and play here anymore like they used to because they don't feel safe."

"It just doesn't feel like a park should," another resident said. "You should feel safe enough to let your kids and...

Residents of multiple mobile home parks have been left to figure out how to move out of their current homes due to redevelopment efforts in the surrounding communities.

"Before this news about us having to leave, I lived a good life here,” said Las Casitas resident Freddy Ortiz.

Ortiz has lived in the Las Casitas mobile home park with his mom, dad and brother for 15 years. He says his stress levels have been rising since learning all residents will need to leave by May 1, 2023.

"It was just so crazy because everything is so expensive now and to find a house is not easy,” added Ortiz.

The Ortiz family plans to pack up and leave the mobile...

MERIDEN — The initial stages of development are underway for a tiny home subdivision on North Broad Street.

Foundations for 12 tiny homes at the former site of Smitty's Snack Bar and an adjacent trailer park are being constructed by Salvatore Carabetta, doing business as North Broad Park LLC.

They received a special exception from the Zoning Board of Appeals to change the use at 1173 and 1187 N. Broad St. from a mixed-use, 12-unit mobile home park with restaurant to a 12-unit detached multi-family development with no restaurant. The homes would be leased.

The Zoning Board of Appeals granted the request with conditions this past summer....

HURON — Driven to remedy several issues at an unsightly RV/mobile home park, which poses many safety concerns and health hazards, Huron officials took some decisive action.

During Tuesday’s city council meeting, staff members announced they’ll commit $900,000 to purchase what’s known as Oster’s mobile home park at Cleveland and Rye Beach (U.S. 6) roads beside LEMmy’s. The site totals about 2.5 acres. The actual owners are several trustees.

After each resident moves out, likely taking place throughout 2023, officials plan on clearing this site.

For years, problems presented issues for all who lived in or nearby this area.

“Oster’s mobile...

MOUNT WASHINGTON, Ky. — The residents of the Live Oaks Mobile Home park and Spectrum News 1 are finally hearing from the management company about multiple rent hikes.

Spectrum News 1 began investigating resident claims in January and hasn’t been able to speak with management. The company wouldn’t return our calls, so the Mount Washington city council asked them to watch our stories and respond.

Heather Thacker spoke before the city council on Monday, March 27. Thacker works for Lasso Capital, the New York City-based private investment company that owns Live Oaks.

She was at the meeting because Live Oaks wants a nearby property to be...

Mobile home residents in California face an outsize risk of failing utility systems, flooding and fires as a result of infrastructure that frequently hasn’t been updated or repaired in decades. 

In 1984, California passed a law to help remedy this: a loan program, paid into by the residents themselves, to buy and in later iterations, fix their parks.

But that solution, for the last 10 years, has helped only one of California’s 4,500 mobile home parks.

State administrators approved a single loan application, in 2021, from a fund now worth $33.5 million, the state’s Housing and Community Development Department confirmed to CalMatters. The...

Rep. Cheryl Golek, D-Harpswell, presented L.D. 815, “An Act to Provide Energy Efficiency Program Outreach and Assistance to Manufactured Housing Residents,” before the Legislature’s Labor and Housing Committee on Tuesday.

The bill would require Efficiency Maine and the Maine State Housing Authority to develop an education program and conduct outreach to residents of manufactured housing to increase the awareness of the energy efficiency programs available to residents. Additionally, the proposal would establish a program to provide financial assistance to qualifying individuals to purchase and install high-efficiency heat pump systems and...

California-based 3D-printing construction tech company Mighty Buildings says it’s on a new and ambitious growth trajectory. From Hawaii to Saudi Arabia, it plans to build communities of sustainable, net-zero, 3D-printed houses fabricated in microfactories that can be spun up virtually anywhere in a matter of months.

“The scale economics of our microfactories makes it feasible to build anywhere,” says Scott Gebicke, Mighty Buildings’ CEO. “This microfactory approach is one of the main reasons I joined the company because the scalability is really impressive.”

Gebicke has been at the helm of Mighty Buildings for just three months, following...

The manufactured housing sector has gained prominence in the past few years due to its resiliency and stability, particularly when economic conditions deteriorate and demand for affordable housing reaches new highs. While it is true that the sector is still experiencing decades-old stigma, some owners and operators are stubbornly determined to show that well-managed manufactured homes can be a palpable solution to the nationwide affordable housing crisis.

“We are in a unique position to contribute to the national conversation about the benefits offered by manufactured homes, including their affordability, contributions to increasing the...

DENVER — A broad coalition of lawmakers, cities, counties, climate advocates and even the business community came together on the west steps of the Colorado State Capitol on Wednesday to unveil a massive bill that’s aimed at addressing the housing crisis in the state.

Senate Bill 23-213 is 105-pages long and is the result of many months of work and 125 meetings with stakeholders around the state.

“Housing and the cost of housing and high cost of living Colorado is an issue that we know we need to take action to do something about for the state,” Gov. Jared Polis said during a news conference Wednesday.

Last year, Colorado lawmakers passed...

Severe storms in the South that killed at least 21 people in Mississippi and Alabama highlight the dangers of being inside a mobile home or manufactured home during severe weather.

Many of the dozens of homes destroyed in the storms were manufactured. In the hardest-hit community of Rolling Fork, Mississippi, 24% of housing units in the county are manufactured homes according to the Census Bureau.

In fact, of the 104 tornado fatalities in 2021, 23 were in manufactured homes, according to NOAA’s Storm Prediction Center. In 2020, 39 of the 76 tornado deaths that year were in manufactured homes. Through Nov. 30 of this year, more than half...

Denise Dougi had to leave all her worldly possessions behind apart from a few essentials when disaster struck at Green Valley Mobile Home Park last Thursday morning.

“It was my sanctuary,” she said. “Nobody lives there but me. I’m really sad not to be able to go into my house with my things.”

Flooding caused a sinkhole behind Dougi’s home, resulting in 17 residents being ordered to evacuate by emergency crews.

Since then, Dougi has been staying with her mother. She has no idea when, or if, she’ll be able to return.

“I’ve just decorated my living room," Dougi said. “I’ve been there three years and I finally felt comfortable enough to start...

The Phoenix City Council voted Wednesday to spend $2.5 million to assist residents of three mobile home parks in finding new housing but stopped short of supporting a controversial zoning move that might have allowed residents to stay.

• The parks are scheduled to close in the next two months to be redeveloped. Residents will be evicted if they don't move willingly.

State of play: The council's decision came after more than four hours of emotional testimony from park residents facing possible eviction.

• Children who missed school to attend the meeting, seniors who lived in the parks for decades and parents afraid their families will be...

In 2008, Caroline Hardy and her husband, Bill, downsized into a mobile home park in South Aberdeen. They both retired a few years later — Caroline from 15 years at Stafford Creek Corrections Center, and then 30 years at Lamb Grays Harbor, which supplied timber mills with machinery; Bill from 38 years at Marshall’s Garden and Pet Store — and started collecting social security checks.

There, they were “real happy,” and “the neighbors are wonderful and everyone gets along,” Caroline said. This would be their “forever home,” they thought.

Now they aren’t so sure.

Last June, the couple — and their many neighbors at the park — pulled a letter...

A young girl approached the podium on March 22 and looked up at the members of the Phoenix City Council seated before her. "My name is Michelle," she said in Spanish. "I'm being displaced."

Last April, Michelle's family was one of the dozens living in the Periwinkle Mobile Home Park that received an unexpected eviction notice from Grand Canyon University. According to the notice, residents had just six months to leave their longtime homes.

In the months since, Periwinkle residents have joined forces with two other Phoenix mobile home parks whose inhabitants are also facing eviction. The other parks are Las Casitas — which is located at 18th...

For the last decade, Jeanneil Marzan paid $645 a month to rent a space for her manufactured home at Sierra Royal Mobile Park. 

When the first rent increase of $40 came in September 2022, the Sparks resident found it reasonable even living on a fixed income. 

Everything changed in December after a multi-billion dollar global private equity investor, Carlyle Group, bought the park and notified its residents of the 151-home community that rent would be increasing to $1,010 per month.

Marzan, along with residents of her community, pleaded with state lawmakers Monday to consider rent stabilization legislation for mobile home parks to regulate...

DAVIS COUNTY, Utah — Pat Blake is the manager of two mobile home parks in Davis County, whose selfless and kind-hearted nature knows no bounds.

“She doesn't buy herself clothing. She rather take that money and help people here.” said Pat’s daughter and Dream Team nominator, Anita York.

She regularly arranges for a Bountiful Food Pantry bus to visit each park twice a month, providing tenants with all the groceries they could ever need.

She also uses money from her own pocket to help children with school supplies and holiday gifts.

“Because that's what we're here for is to help other people. They need help. And that's what I'm here for,"...

OCEANSIDE, Calif. (KGTV) — Rent could be going up again for seniors that live inside the Laguna Vista Mobile Home Park, a senior community, but the seniors say they can't quite keep up, especially on a fixed income.

This mobile home is all Frank Kazerski knows.

"I've lived here since 2009," said Kazerski.

He doesn't know what could be next if his rent is increased again.

"The rent portion is $631. The rest is for trash, sewer, water bill," he said.

Every July, the residents expect an increase of some sort to account for inflation but the owner of the park filed an application to have rent raisedeven more.

"I can't be making these extra...