Once Upon a Time There was a Mobile Home Park in Boulder.....

If you’ve driven on Folsom St. in Boulder, between Mapleton and Valmont, you’ve seen the Mapleton trailer park.  Meghan Stromberg has written extensively about the Mapleton trailer park in her article “Here to Stay” where she delves into the particulars of how this park has changed over the years and  managed to hold its own in one of the priciest real estate markets in the country (Svaldi).  Stromberg looks at what this tells us about the viability of mobile home parks as affordable housing options in such areas.  Stromberg brings up a common statistic; a third of all mobile home owners are in land-lease situations where they own their homes but not the land underneath them (11).  In a town like Boulder where land is extremely valuable, this leaves residents of mobile home parks vulnerable to owners who want to cash out to developers and even municipalities looking for more park land.  Stromberg, however, chronicles a different story for the Mapleton trailer park.  This story is unique, according to Stromberg, in that the city of Boulder, recognizing their need to meet state-mandated affordable housing requirements sold the park to a non-profit owner, in this case Thistle Community Housing, where it is held permanently in the Thistle Community Land Trust under the terms of a renewable 99 year land lease ensuring that most of the lots within the Mapleton are affordable in perpetuity (12).  In addition, Stromberg cites an important factor in the success of this transition; Mapleton residents make up the association that manages the park.  This solution, however, was anything but simple.  Stromberg concedes that numerous community organizations had to come together to create the patchwork of necessary funding from “grants, bonds and traditional banks,” to purchase the property (13).  “This is a promising, although complicated means of achieving an affordable housing goal” says Jeff Yegian who was the home ownership programs manager in Boulder’s division of housing (qtd in Stromberg).  This story is ongoing.  Mapleton trailer park is in need of some major infrastructure upgrades which is typical of many trailer parks whether privately or collectively owned.  Upgrading older mobile homes, particularly ones build before the 1976 HUD codes mandating minimum quality standards is another huge issue.  These older models make up over a third of all manufactured homes (14).

On the opposite end of the spectrum is the Tiny House community proposed for development in Salida, Colorado.  In her March 6, 2016 Denver Post article “Small town, tiny houses, and a big price tag” Susan Tweit brings up some of the challenges Tiny House communities face if they truly want to provide an affordable housing option. 

Inside a Tiny House: Photo courtesy of WikiMedia

Unlike the Mapleton trailer park, the proposed development in Salida would be funded by a private company, Sprout Tiny Homes, who also builds Tiny Houses.  According to Tweit rental rates could range from $750/month to $1400/month, making the units far from affordable.  Doubtless, part of what is driving these rental figures is the amenities like a community building, exercise facility, kitchen and laundry that this development would provide.  And unlike the Mapleton trailer park, these tiny houses will be trendy, chic and adorable.  If you don’t believe me, check out some uber-cute Sprout Tiny Homes.  Ultimately, Twiet concludes that the Tiny House community in Salida is many things, “But it’s not a solution to our affordable housing problem” (2D).

After my research, I’m struck by how close mobile homes and tiny houses are to offering a viable solution to the affordable housing crisis while still missing the mark.  Ultimately, I think mobile homes need to be more like tiny houses and tiny houses need to be more like mobile homes.  Each of these options has something to offer to the conversation about how we create affordable housing.  Mobile homes would benefit from being built more like tiny houses, with an increased emphasis on quality, design and efficiency.  Part of what drives the appeal of tiny houses is the fact that they’re built like standard houses in a smaller, cuter package.  This sounds trivial until you acknowledge the very real fact that we all want to live in a space that makes us feel good.  For most people, the image of a dilapidated trailer is the furthest thing that comes to mind when we think of places we want to live.  The internet is awash with architecturally designed mobile home models that would make anyone with a design aesthetic salivate.  The problem becomes, how do we get these units to populate existing trailer parks and mix with current mobile homes, in a way that is affordable for would-be home owners?

Prefabricated house photo courtesy of Wikipedia

Furthermore, mobile homes should be more mobile.  When it isn’t cost prohibitive for an owner to move their mobile home they are likely to invest more and therefore be more invested in their home.  On the flip side, Tiny Homes need to be more like mobile homes; real places for real people.  As the Salida example illustrates, Tiny houses are in danger of becoming just another quaint consumer product only the financially well-to-do can afford.  Divorce Tiny Houses from the core tenets of the “movement” – (DIY, simplicity, environmental sustainability, community) and you essentially make them irrelevant; snazzy hipster outbuildings for people with extra cash to burn.  How can tiny houses be more like mobile homes and find a path to municipal legitimacy, complete with building codes and access to existing infrastructure?  There are only so many people willing to use composting toilets for the long haul.

As is so often the case, the problem isn’t as simple as I’d hoped.  While these solutions are compelling, there are still substantial road blocks.  I’m convinced that both mobile homes and tiny houses are part of the solution to the affordable housing crisis.  They’re not the silver bullet but they’re an important piece of the puzzle.  And if there’s any conclusion that my research has led me to, it is that there is immense power in partial solutions.  I wonder how the model of the Mapleton trailer park can be adapted to other locales and how the non-profit land-trust model can be replicated and streamlined.  After all, everyone needs a shot at home ownership.  It’s the American way.


Sources:

Stromberg, Meghan. "Here To Stay." Planning 71.2 (2005): 10-15. Academic Search Premier. Web.   6 Mar. 2016.

Svaldi, Aldo. "Boulder Real Estate His Top 1 Percent of Country's Most Expensive Markets." The Denver Post. 11 Nov. 2015. Digital First Media. Web. 11 Mar. 2016.

Tweit, Susan. "Small Town, Tiny Houses, and a Big Price Tag." The Denver Post. 6 Mar. 2016, PERSPECT: 2D. NewsBank. Web. 9 Mar. 2016.