An inequitable pandemic
In the middle of March 2020, Colorado Gov.听Jared Polis issued a stay-at-home order to slow the pandemic, and like many small business owners, Dave Weil was caught in the middle. Weil closed听his thriving massage therapy business; by听July he was still only seeing a few clients each week.
"It's not enough to get by in Boulder," says Weil who lives in Mapleton Mobile Home Park in Boulder, Colorado. He听now attends community food drops offered in the mobile home park, and he's mostly cooking at home.
Because he has some savings and because living at Mapleton, which is cooperately owned, is "semi-affordable," he will be OK听for the immediate future. That said, his planned renovation project will听go on hold听if his savings continue to be depleted.
Weil says many听park residents are struggling from lost income due to COVID-19, including听a printer, a teacher, a听salesperson听and a few restaurant workers.The uniformly spaced units allow听for isolation of individuals.听Residents wear听masks and keep socially distanced when听gathering听for meetings or听food drops, which are held outside.听That said, most Mapleton residents fall in听the 50 to 70-year-old听age range, with a few residents听in their 80s, and听because of their succeptibility to COVID-19, they have听reduced contact with neighbors and the outside community.听
"I have a credo that it's better to not know too much about your neighbors," he says. "We are so close together here, practically sharing walls, that it's better we keep things on a polite level and not get too initimate with details."
An affordable alternative
Weil says choosing Mapleton was a "no-brainer."听 Before moving to the trailer park, rent for his Boulder apartment听teetered听on听50 percent of his income as a听massage therapist with a busy practice.听 When he moved to Mapleton, he paid听$9,000 for the structure听that would become his home at a time when the average听house price in Boulder topped听$225,000. Today the average home sale price in Boulder is $1.1 million.
"If I hadn't had the option of living in a manufactured home, I would have had to move out of Boulder," he says.
He ticks off Mapleton's advantages over other area mobile home parks. Mapleton听is a six-minute walk to听the center of town, and he听lives in a quiet cul-de-sac. Lot rentals are less expensive than other Boulder parks, and Mapleton听has a more democratic governance, he says. When he moved in, the city听of Boulder owned the park, but soon after it was听sold to Thistle Community Housing, a nonprofit organization which develops, manages and preserves permanently affordable rental and ownership homes in Boulder County. He credits Thistle, which operates as听his landlord,听in authoring听the park's democratic structure.
"We have a micro-paradise听here because we control land-use values within the park, which means听outside parties can't decide what happens with our homes or with the听land around our homes," he says.听"That's a major advantage over the听mobile home communities within Boulder owned by outside entitites who听don't have an interest in quality-of-life issues or length of residency听or land-use values. We vote on any change or improvement that happens within the park. Everyone gets a vote."
Mapleton听is also听one of听the more ethnically diverse communities in Boulder, Weil says.听He estimates that听50 percent of the residents are Latino or听other minorities and about 40 percent are age 65 and older. He听estimates only one in five households has听an intact听nuclear family.听
Within the park there is a sense of community. Before COVID-19 there were regular gatherings, as well as community yard sales and clean ups. Residents tend to purchase听sustainable materials for their projects, and the community recycles, including electronics, and composts. There is a community garden, and Weil's听yard is a huge network of raised beds and individual containers. The park maintains听the trees within, which he says听has been great for the wildlife and the city as a whole.
"There is no good reason to leave Mapleton," Weil says.听
Legislation to make things better
Unlike other local mobile home parks, Mapleton's lease includes a mandate that only allows a 1 to听2 percent annual rent increase, and听Mapleton is听also a community land trust, meaning the community is owned by the residents.听But similar to other Colorado parks, none of Mapleton's听residents own the land beneath their units听and state听law favors out-of-state corporate ownership of trailer parks over local听or individual ownership.听
Some听states have inacted laws allowing residents to purchase听the land beneath听their trailers after they have lived there one or two听years, but that hasn't been the case in Colorado, where the majority of parks are owned by out-of-state corporations and holding companies, each of which may听own as many as 100 different parks across the country. Weil says these corporations have no听interest in helping听healthy communities develop in their parks.听 An example is Sans Souci Mobile Home Park in unincorporated Boulder County, where an out-of-state corporate owner听has imposed steep rent hikes and mandated unwanted landscape changes to听residents' property, he says.听
"I believe very听strongly that laws needs to change to favor individual ownership so that people听can build equity in their homes," Weil says.听"You could live听in the听same home听for 20 or 25听years and spend over $100,000 on lot听rentals during that period, and the amount of equity you gain is exactly zero. In fact, if you live in your home long enough听you end up with a liability because you have to pay to have that home demolished and hauled away, and you are no closer to getting a replacement home."
Weil says few see mobile homes听as good real-estate investments because residents are not protected.
"Banks typically want equity to loan money, and you can't use your home because it's not worth anything, and you can't use the land because it's not yours," he says.
Voices: Dave Weil (Part I) Rehabilitation of an aging structure