Updating a story we covered Oct. 16, 2012 concerning the federal court-ordered closing of Duroville, an MHC in the Coachella Valley in California, and home to some 4,000 mostly migrant workers, 70 of the families have been relocated to Mountain View Estates, a government-subsidized development of 181 new modular homes, only ten minutes away. Thirty-eight additional families are waiting for the three-bedroom, air conditioned homes with laundry facilities, a community center with a gym and computer lab to be completed. Also called Desert Mobile Home Park, Duroville was named for owner Harvey Duro, Sr., and was notorious for raw sewage in the streets, suspect tap water, a mess of electrical wires, a toxic waste dump next door, and feral dogs roaming freely. Deeded to Duro by the Torres Martinez Desert Cahuilla Indian tribe, of which he was a member, the LATimes tells MHProNews Indian lands are exempt from county code enforcement. “John F. Kennedy was in the White House when many of these trailers were built,” said Tom Flynn, the court-appointed receiver for Duroville. “Every time one of them disappears, it’s a victory.” While 32 families continue to live in Duroville, it is set to be emptied by summer. Over $28 million in county, state and federal funds were invested in Mountain View specifically to replace Duroville.
