There was a time when the city did a great job when it came to affordable housing for people who work in Manteca and nearby areas.

You can find examples on East Yosemite Avenue, Pestana Avenue and even Moffat Boulevard.

They’re called mobile home parks.

Hopefully the last paragraph you read didn’t cause city planners to  get severe whiplash when they turned up their noses.

 Mobile home parks have a lot of stigmas attached to them thanks to the wonderful people who populate the alternative universe known as Hollywood screen writers. Most of it is unearned or unfair broad brush characterization.

Nor do they have to be developed in such a manner where companies run by the Mr. Potters of the world come in and scoop them up, jack up space rents, and then ultimately sell them so Jeff Bezos’ minions so they  can build Amazon distribution centers.

There are six such homes in mobile parks today in Manteca — or just outside the city limits on Southland Road or adjacent to Oakwood Shores —  listed for between $45,000 and $99,900.

No, they are not 4,500-square-foot McMansions on 10,000-square-foot lots with Sub Zero appliances and three-car garages. But they do get the job done. They provide a place to live and a roof over people’s heads.

There are another eight such homes in Manteca listed for between $147,000 and $199,950.

Two are new construction with three bedrooms, two bathrooms and 1,284 square feet of living room. Each are listed for $199,950.

You can’t buy a new “traditional” single family home in Manteca for even twice that price.

They are not water hogs as they don’t have expansive green turf eye candy.

They require less conversion of farmland to provide detached housing.

Yes, they do require paying a monthly space fee.

That “worries” a lot of people due to the prospect of future space hikes exceeding inflation and the fact simply picking up and moving a mobile home is not an inexpensive feat.

But a city that has the moxie to craft deals such as Great Wolf, Costco, Big League Dreams, and Bass Pro Shops could come up with incentives to lock/cap space increase is space for 35 year or so.

Better yet, they could work with non-profit agencies to create a cooperative of sorts to assure long range maintenance is funded and day-to-day upkeep is addressed.

As for acquiring the land, the city could provide incentives to developers to either set aside property or charge an in lieu to allow for mobile home parks.

Or better yet, the city could zone specific areas that aren’t yet being developed or have yet to be annexed to the city to allow for mobile home parks to be built.

Then, just like the city did with the indoor water park, they could literally shop Manteca nationally to reach those that still develop mobile home parks.

And, just like with Great Wolf, they could make sure infrastructure and roads accessing the edge of the property are in place. As such, that would greatly reduce the development cost of a mobile home park once you remove off-site obligations.

If anyone has an issue with mobile home parks, they need to check up on Almond Terrace or El Rancho Mobile Home Park.

They are tight-knit communities where people seem to have a great pride in keeping their properties up for the most part. They also look out for each other.

If you check police crime logs, call are actually lower in the mobile home parks than in new neighborhoods.

And by that it is a reference to property crimes and nuisance complaints as well as those even of a more serious criminal nature.

It may have a lot to do with restricted access. It may have to do with a sense of community. It may have to do with the fact based on how mobile home parks are laid out and built they know not just their neighbors but those three to six dwellings away.

They are not utopias, per se.

But what they are neighborhoods that offer a lower price point that have made it possible for nearly 1,000 households with ties to the community to be able to afford to own or rent here so they can live in their community.

And as much as the city might think the course they’re on with subsidizing affordable housing opportunities whether they are eventually apartments, free standing homes or duplexes will make a dent in the need it is clear the numbers they will be able to generate will be minuscule compared to what a mobile home park can provide.

In the past three or so years the  city has been devoting to the general plan update, not one specific reference to mobile homes has been made in terms of area zoned for such housing or incentives to get them in place.

That’s because there is a clear bias against — or at least an ignorance of — mobile home parks. That wasn’t the case when n Manteca was more of a blue collar town on its way to becoming an oasis for families shoved out of the Bay Area housing markets due to sky high rents and sale prices.

The question that needs to be answered is whether Manteca will be just for those that can afford the California lifestyle defined by McMansions, sprawling ornamental front lawns, and $2,000 a month studio apartments or will it also include housing for those who labor here and who have roots here but aren’t receiving Bay Area wages because their job is on this side of the Altamont Pass.

This column is the opinion of editor, Dennis Wyatt, and does not necessarily represent the opinions of The Bulletin or 209 Multimedia. He can be reached at dwyatt@mantecabulletin.com