Mapleton Home Association (MHA) is a 501(c)3 federal non-profit corporation representing the residents of Mapleton Hollow, 2635 Mapleton Ave, Boulder.
A beautiful spot of land in the middle of Boulder is home to 132 permanently-affordable mobile homes.
Unique among mobile home parks, Mapleton survives into the 21st century as a rare bastion of affordable housing because of the precedent-setting collaboration between residents of the park, Thistle Community Housing, and the City of Boulder's Department of Housing and Human services. Mapleton Mobile Home Park is in the middle of one of America's highest-priced communities, yet residents in the park rest assured that their homes will not be taken away, and their lot rents will remain affordable. This working collaboration is the result of a remarkable agreement, nine years in the making, that came to fruition in December of 2004.
Stay and browse for a moment to learn more about the history and on-going business of Mapleton.
In December of 2004, Thistle Community Housing in Boulder, Colorado, agreed to purchase Mapleton Mobile Home Park for $2.9 million. Four objectives, held dear by the residents, were reached in this deal: stability, affordability, resident management and grandfathering. The project started back in 1996 when HHS staffer Cindy Pieropan engineered the deal that had Boulder's Department of Public Utilities buying the Park from former owner Lu Nuttall in order to make floodplain improvements on Goose Creek. When the flood control project was completed, the Park would become a permanently affordable community using the existing mobile homes as the infrastructure. "We owe a great debt to Cindy for her vision," Former MHA president Mark Reeder said. In 2000, MHA and HHS teamed up to work on the project together, exploring resident options of a Limited Equity Co-op or joining Thistle's Community Land Trust. In January 2001, residents voted overwhelmingly to join Thistle's CLT. Since then, the MHA and TCH have become partners and have worked with HHS staff to transfer ownership. "Mapleton is be a model for mobile-home folks," says John Pollak, co-director of Housing and Human Services. What has made this project successful? Boulder's City Council and past Councils, for their unwavering support of the project; HHS staff and Thistle staff for the thousands of hours they have put in on this project, and residents for the thousands of volunteer hours they have contributed.
Thistle leases Mapleton Park to residents and the residents manage it. The residents of Mapleton Mobile Home Park are represented by the MHA, a non-profit association, with a full board of directors, a management committee who reccommends operational decisions to a hired Property Manager, and various sub-committees, such as Site, Infrastructure, and Finance.