San Jose looking into manufactured homes for homeless

[KamaAina]

http://www.ktvu.com/news/109045432-story

It's never been done before in the City of San Jose. In an effort to help with the city's homeless crisis, city officials are hoping to move fast on a unique proposal to house as many as 170 homeless people on Evans Lane, near the Willow Glen neighborhood.

The site was initially proposed to be a sanctioned homeless encampment, but now the city is looking at putting up what they call "manufactured" homes for the homeless.

It's a piece of city-owned land, designated for affordable housing and purchased with state redevelopment funds. It hasn't been thought of or utilized for years until now....

Bramson said the city wants to turn a six-acre plot on Evans Lane and develop temporary homes for 100-170 homeless individuals. Santa Cruz's Homeless Services Center has something similar. Each home will have six to eight bedrooms with a communal kitchen, bathroom and on-site staff.

[Cleita]

1. It becomes another trailer park.

To me the obvious solution is to give the functioning homeless jobs with living wages and subsidized rent in areas with high rent rates. Then solutions can be looked into for the dysfunctional homeless. Maybe then group homes could be a solution. OTH I'm glad they are at least trying something.

[KamaAina]

2. Mobile home parks (ahem) are a well-recognized source of affordable housing in SJ and vicinity.

Naturally, we're fighting a rear-guard action against greedy developers who want to shut them down and put market-rate housing in their place, especially in Palo Alto.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/104010374

[Cleita]

3. Also, what's happening here in SLO county is, because they are in greedy

private hands, that they are becoming prime real estate since most of the parks are close to the beach, displacing the poor and elderly. Hopefully they won't be sold out to real estate speculators down the line and remain in the hands of the city.

[Cleita]

4. I forgot to add. Since I have lived in travel trailers and am presently living in a mobile home,

they actually are less destructible in earthquakes. The mobile I live in now withstood the San Simeon earthquake better than the main house, I'm parked behind. The reason is because they are built to withstand rattling on the road while being transported. Now that I think about it, our travel trailer withstood the Northridge earthquake down south that we were living in at the time. I haven't had to experience a tornado though, however, news stories seem to show they don't fare so well but then neither do brick and mortar buildings.