Danielle and Brian Broadstock eat dinner with their children, Levi, 4, and Balir, 2, in the fifth wheel trailer that they call home at the Kit Carson RV Park. Both are students at Northern Arizona University and living in the fifth wheel full time. They shell out $425 per month to pay off the fifth wheel plus $575 to rent their spot at Kit Carson, which includes an outdoor area, full hookups and free wireless internet.
They are among a small but growing contingent of students who, faced with rising rents and scarce housing supply, have turned to fifth wheel trailers as their full-time homes.
Managers at two year-round RV parks in town said they both have seen rising numbers of students signing up for site leases. Many say it’s less expensive than a dorm room or renting a room off campus, said Holly Savinelli, the assistant manager at Kit Carson. Over the winter, 19 of the park’s approximately 100 long-term residents were students.
The ratio is about the same at Black Bart’s RV Park near Little America. There, 20 of the 90 long-term residents are students, said Jennifer Yazzie, co-manager of the park. Yazzie said for many students, living in the park also allows them to get away from the hustle and bustle of campus.
Both parks have student rates that range from $490 at Black Bart’s to $660 per month at Kit Carson. They also offer month-to-month leases, which allows students more flexibility, Yazzie said.
Often, the arrangement is made more affordable because students will borrow units from their parents or grandparents that have been sitting unused or barely used for years, said Lindsey Gabriel, co-manager at Black Bart’s.
“It’s on the up and coming,” she said of camper living.
From Arizona Daily Sun.
Some rv parks are getting to be like trailer parks thats not a great image
As much as it bugs me to see even more RV sites being taken off the market for actual RV’ers use, I can see why this would be a viable alternative for students. Rent everywhere is high, on-campus dorm rooms are almost unaffordable (as is college in general), and this works. So . . .