Residents of a mobile home park in southeast Calgary are worried their days are numbered now that a plan has been proposed for a new development in the area.
The Green Line will be constructed just east of the South Hill Mobile Home Park and city planners have drafted a plan that would see a neighbourhood built around the future LRT station.
The project includes high density housing for up to 7000 people and new businesses in the area are expected to employ about 4000 more.
The plan is to replace the park, which sits along 24 Street SE, with an intensive employment centre.
Right now, there are 176 people living in 105 homes in the park and many are seniors, but there are young families too.
The park has been in the area since 1980 and residents own their units and rent the land from the city.
Many say their park is worth keeping and that it's a great example of affordable housing in a peaceful environment with low crime, private yards and a community atmosphere.
“You can buy a bungalow modular home equal to a constructed bungalow for probably a 10th of the price,” said Lillian Whiteside.
“I really feel like the City of Calgary is discriminating against us because we are in a mobile home park with the stigma of a trailer park and therefore trailer park trash,” said Heather Chamberlain.
“Each and every one of us purchased our home in this park during our working years during a time when we had a good steady income, maybe one or two people in the family were working, and we were able to pay it off and that became our investment and part of our available funding for retirement,” said Owen Lindsay.
The councillor for the area, Gian-Carlo Carra, does not support keeping the park and doesn’t believe mobile home parks are the best use of land near CTrain hubs.
“We're making a multibillion dollar investment in the Green Line and we have to make sure that we have a tax base surrounding that and as much density surrounding that as makes sense. One of the main things driving the Green Line is the understanding that if the next million Calgarians drive like the current million, we're doomed,” he said.
Residents are being helped by a former city planner and the hope is that the city will sell the land to residents and let them run the park like a condo corporation.
The proposed plan will go before council in late 2018.