I am not trailer trash, I am trailerlicious!

[andreab]

Why is there still such a stigma to living in a Mobile Home?

I found out a "friend" of mine has been telling people I am nothing but trailer trash. The funny thing is she couldn't get into my park because she is a convicted felon.

I just don't get the attitude of people. Am I less of a person because where I live? Anyway, I decided that I am not going to let ignorant people make me ashamed of who I am and where I live. I love my trailer and my trailerlicious life. Yeah, my neighbors are crazy, but that makes it all the more fun.

[Greg]

There IS and most likely always will be a stigma about "Trailers". Some of may be from people that go to the window and throw $600, $1000 out every month and have nothing to show for it. Or the people that HAD to buy a stick built home that they can not afford to pay for.

I will gladly match Our HOME against ANY stick built dollar for dollar. Greg

[Greg S]

There will always be a stigma because there will, unfortunately, always be a large number of parks that are managed in such a way as to create that very environment.
One bad apple spoils a barrel and in this case a significant number of class D parks will perpetrate the image.

In my area alone there are 2 of 5 parks that deserve the reputation and the other three are tainted by there presence.
Stereotypes are easy to make fun of and TV shows ( trailer Park Boys, My name is Earl) and comedians find the subject worth mocking even by those that say they grew up in parks.

[Lorne]

That's why we like our Senior Park. Everyone is too old to be bad.

[Jim from Canada]

Don't know why, but our park owner seems to encourage them (the trash). Of course, his home rates like that too. Does not enforce property standards to the point that the town has written him warnings and have charged him under the local by laws. Lots of folks around here behind on payments. You would think it would be in his best interest to clean the place up so it would be more inviting to new business, but he buys broken down homes and puts them on the empty lots. The town is starting to wise up to him, coming in and performing inspections, etc. It is a comedy of errors around here.

[Greg]

Jim, It sounds to me like all the owner is looking for is a monthly paycheck. Let me guess, he is not putting anything back into the park as far as improvements and just the minimum to maintain the park. Greg

[Jim from Canada]

LOL, not even that Greg......Only gets active when threatened by the town with orders from the by-law officer. I am glad I am on the end of the street with my yard to the river, a little oasis away from it all. The neighbours place behind me that burned down has still not been cleaned up. Makes you wonder, with a little bit of work, and some enforcement of property standards, he could be making more money by encouraging more homes to locate here.

[andreab]

In my park, they are working on cleaning it up - they are evicting the non-payers and getting rid of the run-down, trailers. About half the park is very quiet - you never see anyone. There is a section that opens to fields and woods owned by the cemetary (no graves), the trailers and yards are well-kept, I call it the country club section. There is the main drag, which is where the action is and of course where I live. I have met some of my neighbors and they all tell me its nice to have someone normal living there, apparently the guy who owned my trailer was a biker, his wife a drinker and his son a brawler and they caused lots of trouble.

[Yanita]

Hi,

A little late joining this conversation but as the post continue I still see even more stigmas..."the biker", that is a stigma on it's own merits! We have Harley's...and a doublewide...

Yanita

[Jim from Canada]

Yanita.....sounds like you are trying to leave a smaller carbon footprint. Fuel efficient vehicles, easy home to live in that takes fewer resources. That would be my story anyway...lol.

[Greg S]

Regrettably, Jim, where you and I are located it is virtually impossible to actually evict a tenant and near impossible to enforce park rules on a tenant that does not want to comply because the Ontario Landlord Tenant Board (LTB) always sides with the tenant.

The board is good for good tenants that are being harassed by a landlord but very bad for all tenants when a landlord runs into a bad tenant.

It's very easy to say a landlord is not doing there job but when a landlord tries to control or improve a park the government will block every attempt and eventually they will give up trying.
Parks do not go bad over night and once they do get that way you can pretty well forget improving them unless the LTB stops looking at situations such as this with tunnel vision and starts looking at the bigger overall community effect. Also if a owner does want to improve a park a majority of tenants must be on side and willing to take a visible stand at the LTB.

We are presently in this situation in our park where 4 tenants are of the opinion rules do not apply to them and they are definitely "trailer trash". The label goes with the mentality, and social attitude they convey.

[joedirt63]

well this little trailer is the first home that i've owned and it's my castle. actually it's my bungalow. the thing that drew me to this was ,it's reminds me alot of the summer home i grew up in by the shore. seaside , n.j. the whole thing the area ,though it's not by the sea , has woods, and the river is 300 yards from the park, at times i find myself looking around and then getting takeing back tomy childhood, soundds crazy ,but they are better memories than i've had lately.this park has some of every kind and we all know when to keep to ourselves and when to be neighborly. now excuse me i'm going to the dock to go water skiing.( in my thoughts anyway . )

[andreab]

Yanita - I agree there is a stigma to the "biker" also, I don't have a problem with Harley's - my son's father just bought one and I know some really nice guys that drive them. The previous owner kind of encouraged the bad ass biker image - he had nazi tattoos, flags and weapons on the wall. The only time I do have a problem with bikes is when they sit across from my home and rev their engines at 7am on a Sunday, you know modified Harley pipes.

I love my trailer and its the first home I owned - I think of it as my cabin in the woods, even though I have one tree and its in the suburbs just north of Philly.

I like living in the park its an interesting place - still surprised at the ignorance of some of the people in there and totally get why the trailer trash stigma continues, because I have the neighbors from hell. They live in a 35 x 16 trailer, there are 4 adults, 6 kids (the oldest is 7), 2 cats (same cats that poop in my garden), and 7 kittens. They were a family of 5, but when the boyfriend was missing - took off on his bike apparently and wasn't seen for 3 weeks (yes that is what she told people) another family of 5 moved in with her, now the bf is back, so instead of 2 adults not watching 2 of the 3 kids, there are 4 adults not watching 4 of the 6 kids. The kids roam the park dirty and barefoot, they ask my son for food (I have taken her shopping and she gets food stamps so I know they have food), they leave their toys/bikes behind my car, and play in the street while the parents just sit in the trailer drinking. This weekend while I was busy washing my car, the 4 year old drove his little motorized toy atv around my trailer drove over my tomato plants. My normally friendly dog doesn't like motorized atvs (or lawnmowers forget the weekwacker) so he was barking and trying to bite the wheels and I was afraid that the kid was going to get bitten, so I was yelling at the kids to get out of the yard loudly - did the parents come out to see what was going on (and I know they heard me)? nope and the little brat drove into my trailer skirting denting it. If my dog and I are outside the mother will talk to my dog and totally ignore me (unless she wants something) They have a old window air conditioner that sounds like a jet engine which runs all the time whether its 90 or 75, but they leave their front door open. They have a truck, which doesn't run, but its used for storage, so it can't be considered a lawn ornament.

The neighbor on the other side of me was living in a camper, but then got a bigger camper so now the old camper sits about 4 feet away and leans towards my trailer. The park gave her 2 weeks to empty it and move it, now 4 weeks later she is telling me she is allowed to keep it there until she empties (until she empties it???? its a camper - how much stuff can she possibly have that it takes more then a week to empty it???). She also flipped out on the Mr. Softee driver for parking in front of her drive. Never a dull moment in PA....

Sorry this turned into a rant.

[Dean3]

"rant"?? How can it be a rant Andrea? There are no "!!!!" or "CAPS" or "CAPS!!!",or over sized fonts,or cuss words,or ,or ,or . You,my dear,are a very mellow ranter.

Interesting stories though,keep em coming,sounds like there's plenty in the neighborhood to write about.

Dean

[joedirt63]

after reading all these posts,and along with my own experienc, i am of the firm belief that there's something in the water. i mean people seem to be more selfish mean,inconsiderate and ,and ,just plain stupid, for the lack of a better word. i feel we all are in a way products of our enviorment, and boy i sure don't want to see the enviorment your neighbors came from, andrea, instead of that close line , try a 10 foot fence. good fence makes a good neighbor we put a small fence across our back yard from the end of our house to the neighbors shed. (with her permission ,of course) and the neighbor behind us with a cattle dog now has to take the dog for a walk , rather than just let him loose on the rope to ravage our garden, by the way dog and cat poop makes horrble fertilizer. heh heh. as for the kids , can't blame the kids too much, if you really wanted to play dirty pool,( wich you don't seem to be that type of person),sounds like there's enough going on next door to get child services involed , if it's thats serious. being a parent and a pop pop i wouldn't want my kids taken, but then again i consider myself a responsible dad and grandfather as to keep my children in check and take care of them. another thing isn't there a max occupancy in the park.? i know here, our lot rent is so much for 2 people and extra for each person and pets. park owner should know what kind of a gold mine he's missing out on, with all those people liveing in the one houuse.