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Arson attacks paralyze French high-speed rail network hours before start of Olympics, the Obamas endorse Harris for President; A NY county creates facial recognition, privacy protections; Art breathes new life into pollution-ravaged MI community; 34 Years of the ADA.

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Harris meets with Israeli PM Netanyahu and calls for a ceasefire. MI Rep. Rashida Tlaib faces backlash for a protest during Netanyahu's speech. And VA Sen. Mark Warner advocates for student debt relief.

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There's a gap between how rural and urban folks feel about the economy, Colorado's 'Rural is Rad' aims to connect outdoor businesses, more than a dozen of Maine's infrastructure sites face repeated flooding, and chocolate chip cookies rock August.

Manufactured homes could be key to rural NY’s housing issues

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Monday, January 8, 2024   

A solution to rural New York's housing problems could lie in manufactured homes.

A 2023 report found manufactured homes comprise around 2.5% of New York's housing stock. In rural counties, it jumps to more than 10%.

Local and state groups have been working to improve this form of housing.

Ben Carver, director of manufactured homes for Ithaca Neighborhood Housing Services, said the benefits of manufactured homes boil down to economics.

"Manufactured houses are substantially less expensive than a traditional stick-built home," Carver pointed out. "They offer, by and large, the same amenities, unless we're talking about a mansion of some kind, right? They cost less to build. The installation process is maybe a month, as opposed to a year for a stick-built home."

He noted the stigma of living in aged trailers has kept people from pursuing this kind of housing. But Carver feels the industry has turned a corner, with modern manufactured homes baring little resemblance to what they once were. Stereotypes often overlook the real challenges this kind of housing can face, such as exploitative landlords and deferred maintenance practices.

In 2021, Ithaca Neighborhood Housing Services bought Auble's Trailer Park and has been transforming it into Compass MHC. Work on the project has been arduous since it is new territory for the organization. Carver noted the project differs from others because development usually starts from scratch.

"What we were doing and what we still are doing is this huge infrastructure project," Carver emphasized. "It means turning the ground inside out so we can replace sewer mains and water mains, electrical infrastructure, and then paving on top of that. But we're doing it all within the context of someone's home, and their driveway, and their lawn."

He added the group is looking to work on other manufactured home projects in the future and is on the lookout for other trailer parks they could improve.


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