something i’m not keen about with the trailerWrap home is the limited from-street/porch/front door privacy, and the static room-use design(ie. the bedroom is the bedroom and there’s pretty much one place for the bed). that said, it’s well beyond sufficient for a shelter, and many would be happy to have such a roof over their heads.

my improvements to my home were simple. i knocked out a couple of interior walls opening up the kitchen/living room, and creating a sliding wall/door for the 2nd bedroom, making the office more accessible and brighter for the inclusion of the hallway’s south window which now lights the office. well, there are lots of small improvements beyond those. i also re-floored the whole place with used and inexpensive hardwood floors from resource.

as for mobile home parks, the city council seems to be in strong support to retain this housing stock. i think there are several good possibilities for long-term improvements to mobile home park designs/layouts, but right now, we sure like orchard grove the way it is. as is, there are many ways orchard grove could be improved without radical change to the current homes.

thanks for the conversation, and sorry for the long delay. very busy these days… cheers, jeffry

Why is the trailer wrap unoccupied?
You mentioned that you would invite Chanin for an overnight?
I was talking with David Barrett with Barrett studios and he mentioned that he would take his VW bus and would sometimes sleep on the properties that he designed. He obviously is figuring something out as he was named AIA firm of the year in 2002. He is located over off pearl street next to Pearless tire.

What in your mind would be an improvement on your neighborhood? Obviously development is coming, but trailer parks offer a nice mix to a city.

i stumbled upon this site, and i’m tickled that folks are aware of the situation here in OG, and are thinking about possible solutions. especially “outside the box” solutions. thanks.

at the same time, i caution you against some of the missionary ideology i sense in what you write. that is, it’s crucial to first ask the natives what they want. having a “sleeping space” might be a little overboard, but i, for one, would be happy to host chanin or any of the city of boulder representatives for a night’s stay in OG.

personally, in the long term, i’d love to see OG homes shifted further toward sustainability and good design. this already happens, but perhaps at a less cutting-edge pace than architecture/design connoisseurs might hanker for. but such changes do at least come from within, and are affordable to the residents.

as for trailerwrap, as far as i know, no-one’s living in there yet. such design might look great in a magazine, but i sure wouldn’t want to live in it. the 1981 lancer mobile home i bought in OG, and then improved myself, beats trailerwrap on several levels. also, see this treehugger.com article for a quick spanking of trailerwrap:
http://www.treehugger.com/files/2006/10/trailerwrap_con_1.php

cheers, jeffry (jeffryverse@mac.com)

I see a very good benefit to redeveloping this site.
What would it look like to incorporate the current occupants of the mobile home park into the future development. More than likely with a higher end product, you would attract a more diverse economic neighborhood.
I do not see the people living in this mobile home park excited about living in an apartment? I could however see these individuals excited about maintaining the lifestyle that they have, but refresh their house? This would probably take several discussions to understand this, but it could be really beneficial if everyone did not feel attacked or displaced at the discussion?

How about having the developers set up a sleeping space in the current mobile home park to get a feel for the people and how the space could be improved.

The process of development can often times be just as rewarding as the end product. It is difficult financially for all groups involved to truly enjoy the development process especially in Boulder. This is something that I see the city could help facilitate better, but it starts with the private individual having vision,direction and passion for a revived way of life.