Boulder County sent a survey out to residents in mobile home parks in Longmont and Lafayette. Officials wanted to better understand residents’ priorities, needs and satisfaction regarding life in these communities. The results were released on Thursday and will impact how funding from the Healthy and Resilient Mobile Homes Program will be distributed.
The Healthy and Resilient Mobile Homes Program was launched by the Department of Housing and Human Services to repair and rehabilitate manufactured and mobile homes throughout the county. The repairs focus on health and safety measures, energy efficiency, code compliance and accessibility.
The Boulder County survey was distributed to manufactured and mobile home parks in Longmont and Lafayette in July, August and September 2023. Countryside Village in Longmont and St. Vrain in Lafayette provided the highest number of responses to the survey. Emma S. Trailer Park and Longmont Mobile Home Estates did not provide any responses to the survey.
In total, 252 residents responded to either a paper or online survey. The county stated in a news release that it feels the responses represented “a diverse cross section of Boulder County.”
The survey found that 90% of respondents owned their homes while 10% rented. Of those who own their homes 34% reported that the home is in fair condition while 25% reported their home was in poor or bad condition. Nearly all respondents stated that their homes required some repair.
The county discovered that 67% of the respondents were females and 65% of respondents identified as Mexican, Mexican American, Chicana, Latino, Hispanic or of Spanish origin.
Around 70% of respondents reported yearly household incomes under $40,000 and only 9% of the households bring in more than $60,000. The median household income in Boulder County is $92,466. A few households surveyed earn less than $20,000. Most of those respondents were retired individuals on fixed incomes, the survey reported.
"We are excited to work with residents to bring more resources into Boulder County’s manufactured and mobile home parks,” said Francisco Padilla, mobile homes park program manager for the Boulder County Department of Housing and Human Services. “Learning what residents need regarding their homes – including what barriers they face – is key to helping us figure out how to make these communities thrive."
The county created a Home Repair Pilot project in the Columbine Mobile Home Park that is currently running. The results of the survey will help county officials create a strategic plan to ensure that resources are directed toward communities with the most pressing needs. The results will also aid officials in helping these communities address their identified issues, the news release stated.
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