The model of combining housing co-ops with community land trusts could show a new path forward for increasing housing stability.

According to an article by Kirbie Bennett and Jamie Wanzek in High Country News, a Colorado manufactured housing community offers “one model for how to preserve affordable housing, with the potential to reshape housing in the West in a way that allows residents to guide the discussion.”
When threatened with a buyout by a notorious institutional investor, residents of the Westside Mobile Home Park banded together to make their own offer. “With the support of Elevation Community Land Trust, Westside’s residents were able to purchase their park, becoming one of the six community land trusts in Colorado. It was the first time that Elevation applied the community land-trust model to a mobile home park.”
The Durango example is unique because “It’s generally uncommon for housing co-ops to partner with community land trusts,” in large part because they tend to exist in different places. “Now owned jointly by its residents and Elevation, the park operates as a community land trust, which removes land from the real estate market and transforms it into community-owned property.”
As Planetizen has noted in the past, manufactured housing has long served as a key source of affordable housing around the country. “Across the country, 22 million people live in manufactured homes. While nearly 80% of residents own their mobile homes, Esther Sullivan, an associate professor of sociology at University of Colorado-Denver, notes that only 14% own the land beneath their homes.” Increasingly, corporate owners are buying up these parks and raising the land lease rates on residents who can’t afford the rent increases.
“In years to come, residents, with the help of the land trust, intend to redevelop the park by removing the trailers and transforming the units into homes. The co-op and land trust are currently in the early stages of redeveloping the park, and residents are leading those discussions.”
FULL STORY: How a mobile-home park saved its community from a corporate buyout

Manufactured Crisis: Losing the Nation’s Largest Source of Unsubsidized Affordable Housing
Manufactured housing communities have long been an affordable housing option for millions of people living in the U.S., but that affordability is disappearing rapidly. How did we get here?

Americans May Be Stuck — But Why?
Americans are moving a lot less than they once did, and that is a problem. While Yoni Applebaum, in his highly-publicized article Stuck, gets the reasons badly wrong, it's still important to ask: why are we moving so much less than before?

Using Old Oil and Gas Wells for Green Energy Storage
Penn State researchers have found that repurposing abandoned oil and gas wells for geothermal-assisted compressed-air energy storage can boost efficiency, reduce environmental risks, and support clean energy and job transitions.

Minneapolis Bans Rent-Setting Software
Four cities have enacted restrictions on algorithmic software that can inflate rent costs.

Oakland to Add 244 New EV Chargers
Oakland plans to launch its new charging network at eight locations by the end of 2025.

Jane Goodall Inspires with Message of Hope, Resilience, and Environmental Action
Speaking in Pasadena, Jane Goodall offered a hopeful and inspirational message, urging global compassion, environmental responsibility, and the power of individual action to shape a better future.
Urban Design for Planners 1: Software Tools
This six-course series explores essential urban design concepts using open source software and equips planners with the tools they need to participate fully in the urban design process.
Planning for Universal Design
Learn the tools for implementing Universal Design in planning regulations.
Heyer Gruel & Associates PA
City of Moreno Valley
Institute for Housing and Urban Development Studies (IHS)
City of Grandview
Harvard GSD Executive Education
Salt Lake City
NYU Wagner Graduate School of Public Service
City of Cambridge, Maryland