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About Street roots. (Portland, OR) 1998-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 3, 2012)
Street roots 8 Feb. 3, 2012 Manufacturing their own community Is turning manufactured housing parks into resident-owned cooperatives the key to preserving Oregon’s largest stock o f affordable housing? BY A M A N D A WALDROUPE STAFF WRITER r ir o hear Travis Blythe and Dan Fountain talk about the Vida Lea Mobile Lodge, you’d think it is the most beautiful place in Oregon, if not planet Earth. “It’s in the mountains,” says Blythe, 67. “This park is still in the tall pines, and it’s still on good well water, instead of city water. It’s above the fog level of the valley, but it’s far enough down where it’s below any heavy snows. It’s one of the prettiest parks around.” Vida Lea is located just off the McKenzie River Highway between Eugene and the Willamette National Forest. A single lane road curves up a small hill with single and double-wide manufactured homes on each side of the street, nestled into the trees. Residents can walk down the hill and across the street to the MacKenzie River and a T n e a rb y park. P H O TO CO URTESY OF CASA A boy rides his bike through Horizon Mobile Village near McMinnville. With support from CASA, the residents form ed the Horizon Homeowners Cooperative and now own the park. legal issues, and all the other rights and responsibilities associated with being a property owner. It’s not something many Vida Lea residents — all of whom are 55 or older — envisioned for themselves when they first redeveloped the land. “For three years, it was a mad house,” says John Van Landingham, a Eugene-based Legal Aid attorney who advocates for park residents. “I never anticipated that parks would convert to another residential use. subsidy, advocates think continued park closures would be “a huge blow to the stock of affordable housing,” Van Landingham says. “It’s an asset that needs to be protected,” says Peter Hainley, CASA’s executive m o v ed to th e sm all m a n u fa ctu re d h o u s in g N ever. I ju s t a ssu m e d th a t if so m e o n e b u ilt d irecto r. Closures ceased with the recession, a a park, it would stay a park forever.” park, most often to downsize their lives and But Vida Lea has deteriorated in the past welcome respite to Van Landingham and “We hadn’t seen anything like we saw in transition to retirement. few years to the point that it “just drops my others, who immediately began thinking of that time period,” says Andree Tremoulet, a But like residents in other manufactured jaw,” says Fountain, 59, who has lived in the ways to prevent future closures. Van research associate at housing parks around park for eight years. Landingham visited New Hampshire, home Portland State Oregon who face The road is cracked and needs repaving. of the organization Resident Owned University’s Center yearly rent increases A windstorm from last March felled a Communities USA (ROC USA), that has for Urban Studies. that strain their low number of trees that stuffed the culverts converted 92 parks in the state into “Parks sometimes do or fixed incomes, or and blocked drainage. Its septic system is Between 2001 aad 2 0 0 X SO close resident-owned cooperatives since 1984. because they’ve the threat of out-of- close to failing. Fountain also says m a n n fa ctn re i home p a rta The organization also provides training to reached the end of state landlords or blackberry bushes have slowly grown their life, or an owner organizations throughout the country closeir displacing companies that will throughout the park, becoming an eye sore interested in replicating the model in their evict them and approxim ately 2^800 people, dies and the family in an otherwise beautiful area. state. doesn’t want to keep demolish the park to Vida Lea’s residents are ready to take la ewery caser the park Van Landingham started working to it. That’s pretty redevelop it, Vida control of their park. On Saturday, Jan. 20, owaers s o li the park to create a similar model. He and other unusual.” Lea’s residents feel 17 residents sat down together in a meeting affordable housing advocates successfully It was pure, companies or ia ilo lia a ls the pressure of room located in Leaburg’s fire station. lobbied for numerous changes in state law unadulterated knowing that their who demolished the parks Present were staff of CASA of Oregon — during the 2007 and 2009 legislative capitalism happening homes may not Community And Shelter Assistance Corp. - and redeveloped the land. sessions, protecting park residents and right before their always be there, a nonprofit housing developer that runs the encouraging the creation of resident-owned eyes. much less affordable. Manufactured Housing Preservation The park closures cooperatives. It’s up to them to Program, whose goal is preserving were devastating to The changes included allowing the rise to the challenge manufactured housing parks as affordable Van Landingham and creation of nonprofit cooperatives (before, of saving not only housing by helping park residents purchase others because manufactured housing may organizations could become nonprofits or their homes, but their way of life. their park and become non-profit be the largest and most affordable type of cooperatives, but not both), creating a cooperatives. housing in Oregon. Residents of capital gains tax break for park owners who It was the last of many meetings Vida manufactured housing parks tend to be low- sell parks to residents, creating a $5,000 tax Lea’s residents had together and with income, elderly, on fixed income, or a anufactured housing parks are planned credit for residents who move their homes if CASA’s staff since July to decide whether to combination. Tremoulet’s research found communities made up of a park closes, creating a lottery-backed bond purchase the park and become a manufactured, or factory built homes. Not that almost 65 percent have incomes below program helping finance park purchase, and cooperative, a decision both exhilarating and $30,000 a year. Many parks, such as Vida built on site, the homes are transported and a law requiring park owners to pay residents somewhat frightening. Lea, require that residents be 55 years of deposited to the site and hooked to a moving stipend if the park closes. After hearing CASA’s staff run through electricity, water and sewer. age or older, making them an important Depending on whether the homeowner the financing allowing the residents to There are between 1,000 and 1,100 source for seniors wishing to live owned a single, double or triple wide home, purchase Vida Lea - which includes low- or manufactured housing parks in Oregon, independently. they would be paid $5,000, $7,000 or no-interest loans, grants, and a temporary making up 10 percent of all housing in The rental situation of park residents is $9,000. rent increase the residents elected to Oregon. It is unknown with certainty how unique. They own their home, and rent the “That was a really big victory,” Tremoulet impose on themselves — the 17 residents many people live in the parks, though lot space the home is located on, typically says. “It was a moment whose time had present, representing a majority of 24 estimates hover around 100,000. paying rent to someone who owns the entire come.” residents willing to become a cooperative, CASA began working to convert parks park. Manufactured homes come cheap. Van Landingham approached CASA of voted. * into cooperatives in 2007, after a period They most often range between $35,000 and Oregon to gauge the organization’s It was unanimous. beginning with the housing boom in the $60,000. Fountain bought his double-wide “They’re ready to be in charge of their willingness to become Oregon’s version of early 2000s and lasting until the real estate home for $45,000 using money from the own futures,” says Julie Massa, CASA’s ROC USA. “It scared the shit out of me,” and housing market crashed, bringing the sale of his previous home. resident organizer, who has provided Vida Hainley remembers. “We had never economy along with it. That period might be Living in a manufactured housing park is Lea’s residents with countless hours of organized people to own their own homes.” considered manufactured housing’s version incredibly affordable (some would even say technical assistance, counseling and Not knowing what to expect, he and his of an apocalypse. cheap). Fountain pays $380 a month to rent support. staff created CASA’s Manufactured Housing Between 2001 and 2007, 69 manufactured the space for his double-wide home, a 40- by CASA is now in the process of finalizing Preservation program and began finding home parks closed, displacing approximately 60-foot lot. Blythe pays $430 a month, which the park’s $1.25 million purchase, expected parks to convert into resident owned- 2,800 people. In every case, the park is as high as the rent gets at Vida Lea. to close in mid-February. Vida Lea’s cooperatives. The experience has been one owners sold the park to companies or Because of manufactured housing’s residents will then become responsible for individuals who demolished the parks and affordability without relying on government the park’s maintenance, property taxes, See COM M UNITY page 9 M
