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By Anita Snow

The Associated Press

PHOENIX 鈥� Alondra Ruiz Vazquez and her husband were comfortable in Periwinkle Mobile Home Park for a decade, feeling lucky to own their mobile home and pay about $450 a month for their lot in a city with rising rents.

But now the Vazquezes and dozens of other families must leave the Phoenix mobile home park, which nearby Grand Canyon University purchased seven years ago to build student housing. Two other mobile home communities are also being cleared this spring for new developments in a city where no new parks have been built in more than 30 years.

鈥淚鈥檓 here, well, because I have nowhere to go,鈥� said Isabel Ramos, who lives at Periwinkle with her 11-year-old daughter. 鈥淚 don鈥檛 know what’s going to happen.鈥�

The elimination of older mobile home parks across the United States worries advocates who say bulldozing them permanently eliminates some of the already limited housing for the poorest of the poor. Residents may have to double up with relatives or live in their cars amid spiking evictions and homelessness, they warn.

鈥淢obile homes are a much bigger part of our affordable housing stock than people know,鈥� said Mark Stapp, who directs Arizona State University鈥檚 master鈥檚 degree program in real estate development. 鈥淥nce it鈥檚 gone, a lot of people will have no place to go.鈥�

A recent survey by the National Low Income Housing Coalition showed a nationwide聽shortage of 7.3 million affordable housing units for extremely low-income renters. In Arizona, for a three-member household, such tenants are defined as making $28,850 or less.

Industry groups estimate that more than 20 million people live in some 43,000 mobile home parks across the United States.

鈥淲e are in the deepest affordable housing crisis we鈥檝e ever experienced,鈥� said Joanna Carr, acting head of the Arizona Housing Coalition. 鈥淗ousing for many people is getting completely out of reach. It鈥檚 very dire.鈥�

Ken Anderson, president of the Manufactured Housing Industry of Arizona, said trying to bring an old park up to modern standards 鈥� i.e., replacement of electrical and sewage infrastructure 鈥� can be cost-prohibitive for owners.

At least six such communities have been torn down in Arizona in the past 18 months, he said, adding that Grand Canyon University 鈥渂ent over backwards鈥� to help residents more than other park owners.

鈥淎 lot of these parks are 70 years old,鈥� said Anderson, noting an uptick in demolitions of older communities for redevelopment. 鈥淚t鈥檚 going to be a big problem down the line.鈥�

Efforts to revitalize old mobile homes have limits. Despite their name, most units aren鈥檛 truly mobile, and moving them can be very costly. The oldest homes are often too decrepit to even move.

The Department of Housing and Urban Development recently announced聽$225 million in grants聽to governments, tribes and nonprofits to preserve mobile homes, but the money can only be used to聽replace (not repair)聽dwellings built before 1976, which are common at older parks.

Vermont earlier this year聽announced聽a mobile home improvement program to be funded by $4 million in federal money. It aims to help park owners prepare vacant or abandoned lots for new mobile homes, and help mobile homeowners install new foundations and make their dwellings more habitable.

In Riverdale, Utah, the last of about 50 families at Lesley鈥檚 Mobile Home Park must leave by the end of May to accommodate construction of new apartments and townhouses.

鈥淭he state laws don鈥檛 protect us,鈥� said Jason Williams, who sold his mobile home for half what he asked for and will now live in a motorhome.

Some old parks weren鈥檛 originally envisioned as permanent housing.

Florida City Campsite and RV Camp was built decades ago for vacationers headed to the Florida Keys or the Everglades. But the dilapidated park eventually became home to retirees on fixed incomes and young families on government assistance. Florida City, the southernmost municipality in Miami-Dade County, sold it two years ago for a new townhouse project.

Cities often don鈥檛 like older parks because unlike other housing they don鈥檛 generate property taxes for municipal services. Rundown parks can also be eyesores, depressing the worth of nearby properties even as the value of the land the mobile homes sit on increases exponentially.

In Phoenix, that it 鈥渨aited as long as it could鈥� to build new student housing after buying Periwinkle in 2016. 鈥淣ow, with the need to expand, the University has raised funds to provide multiple layers of assistance to tenants at Periwinkle.鈥�

The university initially gave residents six months to leave, it said, and then extended the deadline to 13 months. It offered free rent for the first five months of this year, early departure compensation, relocation assistance and some household goods.

Many park residents are Spanish-speaking immigrants earning minimum wage as landscapers or restaurant workers. Others are retirees living on Social Security.

鈥淲e haven鈥檛 found anything under $1,800; that鈥檚 way above what we can afford,鈥� Vazquez said of apartment rents.

The couple鈥檚 mobile home is too old to move and must be abandoned, she said.

鈥淚t鈥檚 really taken a toll on our health, mental state of mind,鈥� she said.

Maricopa County, home to Phoenix, has a聽housing shortfall of more than 74,000 units. Zillow.com currently lists the聽median monthly rental price聽for all bedrooms and property types in Phoenix at $2,095.

More than 20 families have moved out of Periwinkle in recent months, leaving behind weed-strewn lots. The rusting hulks of several mobile dwellings with rotting wooden stairs were left behind.

Residents wanted an additional 18-month eviction moratorium or a zoning change to stave off their departure indefinitely.

The Phoenix City Council this spring decided to let the eviction proceed, but set aside聽$2.5 million in federal funds聽to help mobile home park residents facing eviction in the future.

Trellis, a nonprofit, is working with the university to help Periwinkle families find apartments and arrange to move mobile homes that can be moved, CEO Mike Trailor said.

Most Periwinkle families still face uncertain futures, Phoenix activist Salvador Reza said.

鈥淪ome of them might move in with another family, with an uncle or aunt,鈥� Reza said. 鈥淪ome might go out into the streets and become part of the homeless.鈥�

A new law in Arizona聽recently increased state funds for owners forced to move their mobile homes because of redevelopment to $12,500 for a single-section dwelling and $20,000 for a multi-section.

Those who must abandon their home because of precarious conditions can now get $5,000 for a single-section home and up to $8,000 for a multi-section.

Periwinkle resident Graciela Beltran said it鈥檚 not enough.

鈥淭hey want my house?鈥� she asked, her voice cracking. 鈥淕ive me a house that is equal to mine. I am not asking for anything more.鈥�