By Jon Gambrell
The Cincinnati Enquirer

Vicki Ballinger lives in the Miami Mobile Home Park in Oxford. The city is considering closing the park. (Michael Snyder photo) | ZOOM |

OXFORD - The Miami and Oxford mobile home parks are on the outskirts of Oxford, nearly a mile from Miami University's campus. Hidden behind homes, businesses and a motel, the parks are unknown to most in this college town.

But the parks, which are owned by brothers and share the same complex, have drawn the attention of city officials, who want to redevelop the area and create alternative housing for residents of the roughly 350 trailers there.

The city identified the mobile home complex as a major concern during a December staff retreat, said City Manager Jane Howington.

"A top priority is to upgrade the park," she said. "All of our departments have had so many problems out there."

The list of concerns is long: Mail carriers have trouble reaching mailboxes; school buses and fire trucks can't maneuver in the tight roads; inadequate water lines. Police are kept busy with a high volume of calls.

The city is considering adding green space in the old south end of the complex, removing half the trailers to decrease density, or possibly removing them all, Howington said.

However, she stressed that these were preliminary plans.

"This is complex, something the city hasn't done before," she said. "We want to make sure to be very careful."

The parks, which represent 2 percent of Oxford's population, account for 30 percent of all police calls, according to Sgt. John Buchholz of the Oxford Police Department.

A large part of the police department's service goes to the complex. After a pit bull attacked a boy, animal control became an important issue. Another is the large number of junk and abandoned cars. The department has towed 50 cars since August.

"We want to give the place a more positive image," said Oxford Police Chief Stephan Schwein. "Some people out there take no pride in ownership and many have their life investment out there."

Howington pictures apartment complexes or reduced-rent housing either in the park or somewhere else in the city for the residents. The city tentatively plans to offer tax liens or credits for the owners, Ray and Dennis Day, to make changes.

Ray Day, who began his park in 1968, said he would consider any proposal the city brought to him.

"We are always looking for ways to improve," he said.

The Family Resource Center, which is adjacent to the complex, offers a clothing bank, job training, Head Start and other services for Oxford residents.

Center administrator Mary Jo Clarksaid most of her clients come from the mobile homes.

She said student demand for housing drives apartment rents out of the reach of many working families in Oxford.

Resident Vicki Ballinger said the complex has seen its ups and downs.

She said things need to be cleaned up, for the community's sake and the sake of her four children.

"We were never born with a silver spoon in our mouths," Ballinger said. "But there are a lot of good people out here. They are hard workers with little funds and nowhere else to go."