Mobile Justice Week

Celebrate Manufactured Home Park Week

September 24, 2006

The State of Minnesota has officially recognized the importance of manufactured (mobile) home parks through a proclamation by Governor Tim Pawlenty declaring the final week in September (24th - 30th) as "Manufactured Home Park Week." Park residents, housing advocates, and public officials geared up for a week filled with events and celebrations across the state.

"This week will help to focus statewide attention on the vital role of manufactured home parks in the state. Manufactured homes provide affordable housing and an opportunity for low-income Minnesotans to become homeowners," said Edward Landrum, former president of APAC's board of directors. "Parks are also thriving neighborhoods. They are places where people form communities, raise families, and often retire. We hope this week will help the broader public begin to see this face of parks."

Currently more than 180,000 Minnesotans live in over 900 manufactured home parks. They provide decent, safe, and affordable homeownership to families in almost every county in Minnesota. Parks present one of the largest sources of unsubsidized affordable housing in the state. With over 50,000 units of housing, manufactured home parks make up 5% of the state's overall housing
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APAC expects "Park Week" to raise the public awareness of manufactured home parks and their importance as a source for homeownership and affordable housing. "Park Week" also sheds light on the increasing trend in the number of manufactured home park neighborhoods that have been demolished for redevelopment. At the local level, APAC and residents from parks across the state have been working to engage local public officials to commit resources to safeguard residents from the threat of redevelopment. On April 1st, 2006, Shady Lane Mobile Home Park, located in the city of Bloomington, closed due to redevelopment and consequently 50 families were displaced.

"Park Week is about Mobile Justice," said Ned Moore, Park Week Coordinator at All Parks Alliance for Change. "In the past 6 years, 15 mobile home parks have closed in the State of Minnesota. We are losing more parks every year, and hundreds of families are losing their homes."