ST. ANTHONY, Minn. – The Minneapolis StarTribune this week profiled the closure of a manufactured home community in the greater Twin Cities.
Lowry Grove was sold, shuttered, and slated for redevelopment, displacing the almost 100 families who live there.
But the article compares Lowry Grove to Park Plaza Cooperative (which works with Northcountry Cooperative Foundation for technical assistance), only eight miles away in Fridley. Park Plaza Board President Natividad Seefeld and other residents is interviewed extensively, with the 6-year-old ROC held up for comparison as a thriving, stable community that’s making significant health and safety improvements:
Jorge Muñoz and his wife moved to Park Plaza a year ago after having previously lived in a larger mobile home community in Minneapolis. The differences are clear, he said: Park Plaza is cleaner, safer and calmer.
That sense of pride and security is reflected in the interactions between neighbors. “And we greet each other,” Muñoz said, speaking in Spanish. “Good morning, good afternoon, good night.”
The two communities, once owned by the same person took divergent paths and the results are heartwarming and heartbreaking at the same time.
Read the entire article here.
