Problems after the park

The City of Iowa City kept track of where residents relocated to after they left Forest View, but only on a very basic level, Cassandra Gripp, City of Iowa City grant specialist, told the DI in December 2022. Of the 47 residents who vacated since the city council’s resolution in April 2022, Gripp said 41 left Iowa City but remained in Johnson County and 26 relocated within the city limits.

Gripp was in charge of distributing the city’s relocation assistance to residents. The council decided last year to provide financial support totaling $15,750 with American Rescue Plan Act COVID-19 relief funds to any resident who occupied the park following the city’s signing of the 2019 Conditional Zoning Agreement.

“The city and the Center for Worker Justice have worked closely to ensure residents of Forest View are relocated as quickly as possible throughout this year,” Gripp said. “We asked residents to indicate a change of address, but otherwise, the money is theirs to do with as they please.”

Many residents have children who go to school in the area, so the Iowa City Community School District allowed Forest View residents who were relocating to keep their children in the same schools for this school year. The district’s decision was an attempt to ease one of the many burdens that those relocating families in Forest View may have faced, Gripp said.

For many residents, the relocation process was costly, Mazahir Salih, executive director of the Center for Worker Justice of Eastern Iowa, said.

Salih was involved both with residents and as a former member of the Iowa City City Council during the process of the park’s proposed redevelopment.

The stark difference in rental costs throughout Iowa City compared to the price of living in the park was difficult for residents as they left Forest View, Salih said.

“Can you find a $310 one-bedroom apartment in Iowa City? No,” Salih said.

The average household in the park consists of three people, Salih said, so even a one-bedroom apartment might not be enough to house a family that left Forest View.

Other residents have moved or are looking to move to other mobile home parks in Johnson County but have been forced to live with multiple households to share the cost of living.

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development estimates Johnson County’s Fair Market Rent, the price to rent a moderately-priced unit in a particular county, at $922 for a one-bedroom unit and $1,127 for a two-bedroom unit.

For a three-bedroom unit, the Fair Market Rent is $1,602 — the highest of any county in the state, according to RentData — a site that aggregates HUD’s rental cost data.