When people think of trailer homes, many envision shoddy construction and unhealthy living conditions, but in places like Sitka where construction costs are high and land availability is low, they’re an important affordable housing alternative. For one Sitkan, renovating a trailer provided a path to debt-free home ownership, and this resident is not the only one looking beyond the stigma of trailer living.

Robin Schmid’s black and white border collie Lady greets me at the door of her olive green trailer home. The mouth of the Indian River spills into Sitka Sound outside her kitchen window.

It’s not just the scenery that’s inviting. Inside, the nearly 900 square foot home looks like any modern apartment or house. It’s bright and tidy, with hardwood cabinets and new appliances.

“I’ve had a lot of people come over and they’re just absolutely stunned when they come in,” she said.

Schmid hasn’t always lived in a trailer. She used to own a big house with land in Wasilla, and it had a big mortgage to go with it.

But a few years back after a divorce, she decided to make a change toward a simpler life. She was old enough to withdraw some of her retirement, and she started asking herself where she wanted to live and what she wanted to do next.

“And I just kept coming back to the idea that being self-employed was the only thing that really worked for me after being an attorney for over 25 years, and the place that I really wanted to live was Sitka, I really wanted to come back to Sitka,” Schmid said. “And I wondered how I could possibly afford to do that.”

When Schmid lived in Sitka before, she’d rented, but it was tricky to find a place that could accommodate her teenage son, her dog and cats. She looked at buying a house, but even places that needed a lot of work were out of her price range. Then, she got a call from a friend asking if she’d be interested in a trailer that a local contractor wanted to sell.

“And we did a walk-through and the place was…whew,” she said. “It’s 1984, and there was the paneling. So it was really, really ugly. And I said I only want the place if you gut it to the studs. I mean new floor, new ceiling, new walls. I said I don’t want to see any paneling anywhere.”

Finding a bank to finance the trailer renovation was a challenge, so they drew up their own contract and payment plan. He replaced everything from the windows to the countertops, and the fully renovated trailer cost Schmid just $75,000. That’s around a fifth of what she would’ve paid for a house that still needed a lot of work.

She does have to pay a couple hundred dollars a month to rent the lot in the trailer court, but she said that’s nothing compared to a mortgage. Besides, she said, owning land comes with extra responsibilities like maintaining the road or dealing with the electrical meter, and she doesn’t mind having neighbors close by.

And the smaller space isn’t a problem either, as long as she stays organized. She even runs her legal practice out of her home.

“It’s comfortable enough that if I want to stay here, retire here, and die here, I think I could that.”

But despite Schmid’s success story, everyone from her plumber to her father has voiced skepticism. She thinks there’s a stigma against trailers that doesn’t exist for other affordable housing alternatives like tiny homes.

“There’s been the belief always is that trailers don’t last,” Schmid said.

Although many of Sitka’s trailers are shoddy and unhealthy, especially those built prior to 1976 when the Department of Housing and Urban Development introduced construction standards, Sitka Building Official Pat Swedeen said many people are pleasantly surprised at the quality of new manufactured homes.

“They’re not built like they used to be. They’re built with much thicker walls. They have insulation equal to what a typical stick-build home,” Swedeen said. “I think that’s an avenue that isn’t getting enough attention in my mind when it comes to really trying to talk about affordable housing.”

Developer Jeremy Twaddle owns Mountain View Estates. He’s slowly expanded the trailer court since he bought it nine years ago. He barges the manufactured homes from down south, installs them on a permanent foundation, and sells them move-in ready.

Even with the cost to ship the home and rent the lot, he said the price per square foot is about half of what someone would pay for a regular house in Sitka. And people have noticed. The remaining spaces are already promised to buyers, and the trailers haven’t even arrived yet.

“I’d say in the last year, there’s been a real uptick in this type of housing I think due to the affordability. And not only in Sitka, but kind of nationwide, the manufactured home builders are backed up about nine months in construction right now,” Twaddle said.

He said getting a loan to buy a trailer can be a challenge, but in Sitka, ALPS Federal Credit Union offers financing.

A bigger hurdle is land. There’s not a lot ripe for development in Sitka anyway, and because of zoning restrictions, the space for trailer courts is even more limited. He said if the land was there, he’d keep bringing in manufactured homes because, as a lifelong Sitkan, he sees the need for affordable housing and the gap that trailers can fill.

“And I don’t think it’s a one-size fits all type scenario,” Twaddle said. “I remember people always had manufactured homes and that’s what they lived in until they could pay that down and take that chunk and put it in on a stick-built home and work their way up from there. Just wanting people to stay in Sitka and succeed and not get run out of town because there’s only rental options or the homes are just too expensive.”

For Schmid, that’s exactly what her trailer provides: a way to stay in a place that she loves and the freedom to live her life the way she wants.

“I feel like I’ve gotten my life back without the debt hanging over my head,” Schmid said. “It’s about freedom to me.”

If she ever decides to move, she thinks she could get her money out of her renovated trailer and then some. But if not, she said, she’s gotten her living out of it.

Erin McKinstry is a Report for America corps member. This story is part of KCAW’s special series on affordable housing called “Building Solutions.”

Tiny homes on wheels have gained traction in recent years as an affordable housing alternative, but building them legally poses challenges in many communities. Sitka was one of the first cities in the country to introduce a set of tiny home friendly code changes last year. But, a year after passing the groundbreaking ordinance, no one is building them.

A few years back, Stephanie Kruse and her husband decided they were sick of renting.

They moved around a lot for Kruse’s job, so buying a house wasn’t a great option. Besides, with Southeast Alaska’s high rental rates, they weren’t saving enough for a down payment.

“It’s hard to put away money when you’re paying so much in rent. And you know, at the end of the year, you don’t get anything back from that besides having had a place to live,” Kruse said. “So, for us, we wanted to do something that would allow us to build some equity with that 1200 plus dollars a month we were paying in rent and housing costs.”

They looked at manufactured homes and RVs, but ultimately settled on a tiny house on wheels. 

“We preferred the tiny house for a lot of reasons. One of them for sure is that a tiny house holds its value a lot better than an RV because it’s built with more traditional construction materials that are meant to withstand the weather. And then also, you know, they’re whimsical and fun and interesting.”

With beige siding and a blue metal roof, the roughly 170-square-foot house looks like a mini single-family home. Kruse and her husband took out an RV loan and paid a company in British Columbia to build it. They moved it to Juneau on the ferry and parked it on a shared lot.

When Kruse’s job brought them to Sitka, the tiny house came with them. Even with their loan payment and the cost to rent a spot at a local RV park, Kruse said they were paying a couple hundred dollars less a month than if they were renting.

“I think the kind of ruling concept for people who do small homes or tiny homes is a small house for a big life. If you can reduce your housing expenses and kind of minimize that in your life, but still make it a pleasant place to be,” Kruse said. “And that gives you the ability to kind of put your funding towards the things that you are really passionate about in your life.”

For Kruse and her husband, that meant a trip to Japan and saving to buy a regular house. And when they sold the tiny house and left Sitka for the Pacific Northwest, that’s exactly what they did. 

“I think it’s a really great stepping stone to home ownership like it was for us.”

But even though rent in Sitka is high and home ownership can be cost prohibitive, people in Sitka aren’t following in Kruse’s footsteps. That’s despite changes to the city’s building and zoning codes a little over a year ago to make tiny homes, and particularly tiny homes on wheels, easier to build. Pat Swedeen is Sitka’s Building Official.  

“There’s definitely been a few individuals who have been interested in it. We’ve also had actually a couple of companies think about maybe trying to go that route,” Sitka’s Building Official Pat Swedeen said. “Thus far we haven’t had anybody actually begin that proper process of permitting and, and constructing a tiny home.”

Even before the changes, Sitka didn’t have a minimum house size, but meeting building standards for small structures was a challenge. So Sitka adopted a set of international regulations to make it easier to build houses under 400 square feet, allowing for things like ladders and lower ceilings. 

It also addressed a legal grey area for tiny homes on wheels. Before last March, Sitka considered them RVs like almost any other place in the country, and legally, you can’t live in an RV year-round in Sitka. Now, they have their own designation. They’re allowed in trailer courts, and there are some zones where they can be placed on lots by themselves with planning commission approval. 

“The two main barriers in most places are zoning and building codes,” Tiny Home Industry Association communications director Alexis Stephens said. She said Sitka’s changes are a big step in the right direction. Sitka is one of just a few across the country to update their zoning regulations to be more tiny home friendly. “The progress is really picking up but to put that into context, there’s almost 90,000 municipalities in the United States, having more than a dozen embracing tiny homes, still leaves quite a bit of work to do.”

And even with the regulations changes, there are still barriers like the cost of construction, Swedeen said.

“Per square foot, a tiny home isn’t really super affordable. You know, since it’s small, it’s not like the cost of building a 2500 square foot house. But you know, you still need to have cooking appliances, you still need to have heating appliances, you still need to have bathing facilities and a toilet and things like that.”

Financing and land availability are also big hurdles. Tiny homes on wheels aren’t allowed as accessory dwelling units in Sitka, so you can’t just buy one and park it in someone’s yard. 

Jennifer Younger bought Kruse’s tiny home as an affordable option for her son. Much like Kruse, it allowed him to save money to buy his own house. Now, they’re looking to sell, but Younger said land availability has stopped a lot of buyers.

“We’ve had several people very interested and check it out and it’s a beautifully built little home, but people just don’t have property to put it on,” she said.

Even though tiny homes haven’t taken off, Sitka Conservation Society Sustainable Communities catalyst Chandler O’Connell said she isn’t discouraged. SCS partnered with a Sitka High School construction class to build their own tiny house a few years ago. Their efforts to sell it sparked a community conversation, which contributed to the eventual code changes.

“And I think our learning from past code changes is it takes a while for that information out there. It takes a while for people to understand the implications and think about how they want to implement that in their own building decisions. I’m excited to see how it can shape Sitka’s housing market over the next few years.”

She said she sees tiny homes as one affordable housing option of many. They won’t work for everyone, but it’s about getting more tools in Sitka’s housing toolbelt.

Throughout April and May, KCAW News will be bringing you stories about affordable housing solutions every Friday as part of our “Building Solutions” series. Erin McKinstry is a Report for America corps member.

When land is scarce, one way to make housing more affordable is to increase density by building apartment complexes and multi-family homes. At least that’s the way it’s supposed to work. In Sitka, the largest apartment building in over two decades is going up, but the ten units will be more costly than the market average. A developer behind the project says the economics just don’t pencil out.

Before property manager Vicki D’Amico even advertised the one- and two-bedroom apartments under construction at Sealing Cove, she’d already rented out three of them. 

“It has all top of the line equipment, that’s what makes them so appealing. People walk in and say wow, they have a wow factor,” D’Amico said. “They really do.”

When I visit on a sunny day in late April, the two-story indigo building is a flurry of activity. There are still countertops to install and trim to finish before renters move in just a few weeks from now. All of the apartments are already rented, and D’Amico even has a waiting list. The apartments overlook the harbor and towering snow-capped peaks.

But it’s not just the view or the quality of construction that’s attracting renters — it’s that they can’t find anything else. Even professionals with higher incomes are struggling to find housing.

“I watch the market; I watch what’s available. And I thought there were some things available but so many people said no, there just isn’t. Or it’s not something I’d want to live in is what I hear,” D’Amico said. “And some people put money down site unseen, which tells you about desperation, I think.”

Every year, Sitka’s housing supply increases slightly, but on average, roughly half of that construction comes in the form of single-family homes, according to permit data from the building department. And a lot of it is high quality and high value.

“Most of the new houses we see built are fairly high end,” Building Official Pat Swedeen said. “Pretty high cost per square foot to build.”

New apartment complexes are rare. Sitka’s permitted a little over 20 in the last two decades, and most of them are small, with three or four apartments. Since 2000, only two privately-funded developers have constructed long-term rentals bigger than a four-plex.

“We’re not really ready as a city I don’t think to move beyond the four-plex,” John Hardwick said. He and his wife are the developers behind the new 10-plex at Sealing Cove. “Many times even on a large piece of property, it’s more cost-effective to build two four-plexes than it is to build one eight-plex. Which doesn’t make sense if you’re in the building trades, usually one foundation, one set of exterior walls, one roof is more efficient. “

He said the additional safety requirements for buildings with more than four apartments like sprinkler and fire suppression systems drive up the cost. Financing is also more expensive. He said his company didn’t receive any local, state or federal assistance to help offset the costs.

Add energy efficiency measures, parking requirements, skyrocketing lumber prices, and unforeseen projects like building a seawall, and he says the apartments aren’t going to make money anytime soon, even with high rental rates. They’re charging around $500 more than the fair market rent and that doesn’t include utilities.

“It’s kind of sad that we’re charging $1800 a month for a two-bedroom, unfurnished, no utilities paid. But that would be great if we were making money, but the fact that you’re not making money, you’re treading water here hoping that in the future you can make some money.”

Hardwick said they were trying to fit as much housing on one property as they could, knowing that possible expansions from SEARHC and the Coast Guard could make a tight housing market even tighter. He thinks there are opportunities for the city to work jointly with private developers to address Sitka’s housing issues.

“I know that the comprehensive plan for the City of Sitka says that they would like to have higher densities. And yet when the rubber meets the road, it becomes a little bit more problematic,” Hardwick said. “It’s not saying you can’t do it, you can build it. But if it’s not economic, why would you put your hand in the blender again?”

City planning director Amy Ainslie says there are many ways to encourage denser and more affordable development, from tax incentives and fee breaks to increasing access to financing and relaxing requirements for accessory dwelling units. Some cities even have a dedicated affordable housing fund. 

“The approach that Sitka has generally taken has been to look at our general code and to see what parts of our code might be encouraging or discouraging certain types of development,” Ainslie said.

Sitka’s zoning is fairly accommodating to denser development. The bulk of residential zones do allow for at least a duplex. And even if Sitka isn’t adding a bunch of new apartment complexes, Ainslie said she has seen progress over the last couple of years, especially since the city reduced minimum lot sizes and modified some density requirements. 

“There are definitely developers who are taking advantage of some of these changes to the code,” Ainslie said. “We’ve had some subdivisions that were possible because we decreased the minimum lot size, subdivisions that wouldn’t have otherwise met our standards for subdivision, so more lots are being created as a result.”

Still, she said, there’s a lot of work left to do.

“If you’re measuring success, I think a lot of people tend to do that based on ‘is housing affordable?’ And I think a lot of people would still say the answer is no.”

D’Amico, the property manager, worries about what the housing shortage could mean for Sitka’s future. She said one potential tenant told her, “people are coming into work, and you’re going to have tents pitched if you don’t do something.”

Throughout April and May, KCAW News will be bringing you stories about affordable housing solutions every Friday as part of our “Building Solutions” series. Erin McKinstry is a Report for America corps member.