Cohousing-L Mailing List: Re: COHOUSING-L digest 464

[Gerald Rioux (rioux]

On Tue, 18 Apr 1995, Laurie Schneider wrote:

> Following up on the mobile home, thread. . .
> 
> As a relatively impoverished returning graduate student, I am interested in
> the mobile home option. Granted, they are none too pleasing aesthetically,
> but that hasn't been my main complaint.  Primarily it is the usual mobile
> home park denizens - retirees, junk collectors, or students.  I would like
> to be a part of a more diverse and stable group of people, but I don't
> think I will ever be able to afford the swanky 200K co-housing.  Is there
> some other option out there for congenial, community minded people like me?

Well, Laurie... there are mobile home parks and then there are mobile home
parks...  If you are interested, I can even arrange for you to visit some
resident owned mobile home parks in California where the mobile home and
lot or co-op membership are $200K plus.  A 1200 to 1700 sf home and lot in
Capitola (Santa Cruz County) will probably run you $125,000 to $175,000. 
Many of these homes have patios or decks overlooking the creek, there are 
redwoods in the development and the ocean is about half a mile away.  

It's not your typical trailer park!  And that's true for most other as
well.  Mobile homes and mobile home parks tend to get a bum rap,
especially by people who have never been in them.  They can actually be
very nice places for people to live... and provide a much better sense of
community than the typical suburban neighborhood.

Approximately 100 mobile home park residents associations in California
have gone through a process that I think is quite similar to the coho
experience.  They have organized and bought their rental parks and
converted them to resident ownership as condominiums and cooperatives. 
They have worked together toward common goals, overcome tremendous odds
and created stronger communities.  These groups have included retiree, 
students and families with modest incomes. 

And Laurie, you can also probably get into a resident owned park for far 
less than the Capitola example I gave above.  Something in the $100K 
range is more likely in parts of San Diego County.  I'm currently helping 
the residents of a small senior park in Santa Rosa where the combined 
cost of buying a clean single-wide and the co-op membership will probably 
start around $10,000.

Jerry Rioux, (rioux [at] oro.net) 
HCD Services
15313 Sierra Star Lane
Grass Valley, CA  95949
(916) 272-6751
(916) 272-5463 FAX