![]() Further, a state law passed in 1988 protects residents by giving them first dibs when their parks go up for sale. Generally, the properties here are too small. So far, Vermont has been spared the unwanted interest of Wall Street investors who are buying up parks nationwide and raising rents. "They're not mobile." They're not located in parks, either, Collins noted.Īre you having trouble finding affordable housing? Check out Seven Days' Vermont Housing Resources Guide, which lists public and private organizations that help qualifying Vermonters find shelter and rent, purchase and maintain homes. "People still mistakenly refer to these as 'mobile homes,'" said Collins, who prefers "manufactured homes" for the ones built in recent decades - long after the days when homes came with wheels and directional signals. Only about 1 percent move each year, according to state data. ![]() "Trailer park" has fallen out of fashion, and housing policy makers often note that the "mobile" homes rarely go anywhere. The language that's used to describe these homes and communities is getting something of a makeover, too. Some are still struggling to make repairs and upgrades related to Tropical Storm Irene in 2011. Many mobile home communities, such as Tri-Park, include low-lying areas. ![]() "Anybody associated with mobile home parks will say the state has a lot to make up for there," Houghton said. Mary Houghton, a housing policy veteran who sits on the board of Tri-Park, noted that much of Vermont's public funding for affordable housing goes into perpetually affordable multifamily buildings. Even when the parks are eligible for public grants, complex applications can be a barrier, especially for smaller ones. The privately owned communities have long struggled to pay for basic infrastructure, and state funding for them over the years has been limited. Now a Democratic rep from Brattleboro, Kornheiser has been working to steer funding to the parks. "A lot of folks were quite engaged in politics there was a lot of love for Bernie," Kornheiser said of Vermont's junior U.S. One, a metalsmith, was pouring homemade bullets into molds, and she stayed to watch another was feeding Froot Loops cereal to some neighborhood skunks. Park residents talked to Kornheiser about the economy, politics and health care. These stories are supported by a grant from the nonprofit Journalism Funding Partners, which leverages philanthropy and fundraising to boost local reporting. Seven Days is examining Vermont's housing crisis - and what can be done about it - in our Locked Out series this year. "They were really happy to tell me the whole story of the community and about their neighbors in a loving, connected way," Kornheiser said, describing a neighborhood she found to be very much like others in town - though many local residents didn't know much about it. When Emilie Kornheiser first campaigned for the legislature in 2018, she said she knocked on every one of the 330-plus doors in Tri-Park Cooperative Housing, a community in Brattleboro. Becca Balint (D-Windham), Vermont's Democratic nominee for Congress, said in an interview. "It is one of the most accessible paths to homeownership in Windham County," state Sen. That's still well below the median price for a conventional home in the same region, which was $450,000 as of last month. Prices are higher in Chittenden County, where a home in good condition can go for as much as $200,000. Most own their mobile homes, and it's rare for a used one in central or southern Vermont to cost more than $80,000, real estate specialists there say. ![]() If the park owner takes good care of the property, residents can find this to be a very good deal. A typical lot rents for about $360 a month. One reason for the newfound respect: the value for residents. "It's about time that this important part of our housing stock be given this attention." "These are communities where people live for decades - tightly woven communities with great support networks," said Maura Collins, executive director of the Vermont Housing Finance Agency. The housing crisis, a rise in cooperative-ownership arrangements and changing public perceptions have created sufficient momentum that, for the first time in years, Vermont lawmakers are directing millions of dollars to improve long-neglected water and sewer facilities at the parks.
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