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The cost of staying: Maine mobile home park residents pushed to the brink as rent spikes
03/27/2026
The cost of staying: Maine mobile home park residents pushed to the brink as rent spikes
Maine’s housing crisis is hitting some of the state’s most overlooked communities: mobile home parks. In this episode, Cate and Esther take a closer look at how corporate ownership is negatively reshaping these parks, where more than one in five parks are now owned by out-of-state investors. Residents Juliette St. Amand and Marieke Gaisson share what that looks like on the ground — from steep rent increases to poor maintenance and little accountability. Juliette’s rent jumped from $300 to $550 in just three years, while Marieke saw a $190 increase over four. Together, they unpack how these changes are impacting Mainers, why lawmakers need to act, and how residents are organizing to protect their communities. They also look at the ripple effects beyond mobile home parks. "We're not considered workforce housing, but we might as well be," Marieke shared on the podcast. "[We're made up of] nurses, teachers, lots and lots of people in my park work at BIW, lots of childcare workers, CNAs. Lots and lots of people that, if they lose their housing close to where they work, they're not gonna be working there. So, it affects the wider communities as well."
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