Image taken from Times Union
Skidmore College is seated in the vibrant city of Saratoga Springs - a fact that undoubtedly many students find appealing when applying. The area provides a perfect location for grocery shopping, late-night takeout, and weekend activities to let go of stress.
It’s easy to pass off Saratoga Springs as a fun evening destination to spend time with friends, especially considering that Skidmore College is an insular community in itself. However, a larger Saratoga community rests outside the college, made up of long-time residents, small business owners, and families.
Currently, these residents are struggling with affordable housing or lack thereof. One group in particular – residents of the Saratoga Lakeview Mobile Home Park – are in jeopardy of eviction.
On January 9, the property owner, Brett Van Zandt, notified residents that Giovanone Real Estate Partners will purchase the land unless residents can pay $65,000 in cash. Giovanone does not intend to build new affordable housing on the plot, but exact plans are not currently known.
Twenty people reside in the 3.2-acre park, including a family with children, all with established lives in the area. The park is also home to daycare center workers, store clerks, and waitresses, many of whom live on a low income. Currently, renters already pay $500 a month in rent.
In normal circumstances, this amount of money is a stretch to meet. In unusual times, COVID-19 increases the additional price of living expenses, such as food and clothing. The two available options – moving to a new location or paying the fee required – are both not likely options for residents at this time.
Saratoga is currently facing an affordable housing shortage, exacerbated by the gentrification of many areas in the city. The county has been a vacation destination for almost two hundred years due to its abundance of natural land and the Saratoga Race Course attraction. Now, wealthy families are buying homes instead of visiting, jumping at the chance to live in a picturesque place while remaining close to cities like Albany for work.
Construction projects are more frequent than in the past, as decade-old houses are bulldozed in favor of luxury projects. The city is also following the New York state trend of rising house prices due to COVID-19.
COVID-19 has fundamentally changed the American housing market. Workers can carry out traditional office jobs from home, using the internet. With this change, people see no reason to stay in the big cities, where pollution is high, and space is tight. They are leaving for rural markets where they can buy more land for less money. The increased demand for less populated areas drives up the price of houses and squeezes out those that cannot afford the higher prices.
These issues drive low-income families from one mobile home park to the next, searching for affordable and safe housing. Most mobile home parks in Saratoga County are already full. The mass exodus of low-income families does not bode well for the community. The people who are moving are the same ones who built up the spirit of Saratoga, brick by brick.
Cheryl Hage-Perez, executive director of The Veterans & Community Housing Coalition, initially interviewed by the Times Union, agrees with this sentiment. “People who are from Saratoga or worked in Saratoga their whole lives don’t have any options. Why is Saratoga only for wealthy residents and not for the families who provide the services that Saratogians so enjoy?” she said.
Although the situation is grim, the city is promising to help. The letter from Van Zandt indicated that if Giovanone Partners buys the park, the new owner is obligated to give at least six months’ notice of their intentions to change the use of the park to give residents time to vacate the park.
Brian Butry, a spokesman for the State’s Home and Community Renewal Office, said residents have two years before they have to vacate the property. Residents are entitled to receive relocation assistance from the office. But considering mobility and price-point, where can they go?
Many are turning their gaze towards mobile home parks Schenectady or Glenn Falls. The two communities are both around twenty miles away but still have room to accept new residents. Leaving for new communities is a tentative contingency plan. Nonetheless, it’s only a viable option for some, leaving others unsure of the next steps.