4 USA Race to buy
4 USA Race to buy trailer park homes in property boom HOUSING Rising ground rents in trailer parks are causing the poorest Americans greater financial hardship. Golden Hills Mobile Home Park in Golden, Colorado, in September 2021. | Photo: Getty Images/ The Denver Post By Will Pavia 1 MORE THANa decade after a retired postman from New York formed “The Rent Is Too Damn High” Party and ran for public office, America’s property market is booming and city rents are still rising. Now investors are turning to trailer parks, threatening what has long been seen as the last redoubt of affordable housing. 2 “With over 20 per cent of Americans trying to live on ,000 per year or less, the demand for mobile homes has never been higher,” says the website of Mobile Home University, which was set up by one of the largest owners of mobile home parks and offers courses for potential investors. “The big winners are the owners of the mobile home parks in which those customers reside,” it says. 3 Mobile home residents own their manufactured home or trailer, but pay rent for the plot of land on which it stands. An introduction to a “boot camp” the university runs for prospective investors notes, with little compassion, that owners of the parks can increase the rents without fear that the tenants will move somewhere else. “Virtually no new parks are allowed to be built and the fact that tenants can’t afford the ,000 it costs to move a mobile home keeps revenues stable and makes it easy to raise rents without losing any occupancy,” it says. 4 Affordable housing advocates complain that the rush of investors into mobile home parks threatens one of the last places where poorer Americans could achieve at least part ownership of their property, as a generation of park owners retires and sells up. Mobile home park operators point to sites that have closed because their owners were not able to keep them going on lower rents, and argue that they are working to maintain an affordable means of housing. 5 At a mobile home park in Michigan, Mary Hunt, 50, who earns an hour driving elderly patients to doctors’ appointments, told National Public Radio that her rent and fees had risen from 0 a month to 0 after the couple who owned the June 1 2022 | World and Press park sold it to a private company in 2017. 6 “When private investors come to buy parks, they raise the rent, sometimes 20, sometimes 50, sometimes 70 per cent,” George McCarthy, an economist and president of the Lincoln Institute of Land Policy, told National Public Radio. He argues that government regulations only encourage such rent rises by allowing investors who increase the value of a park to borrow more against it and buy another park. 7 At Golden Hills Mobile Home Park in Colorado, residents said that the rent rose by up to 50 per cent after the park was bought by a private company called Harmony Communities. Patricia George, who has lived in the park for 12 years, told ‘The New York Times’ that her rent had risen to nearly 0 a month, leaving her with only 0 a month from her disability benefits. “A lot of us might end up on the streets,” she said. 8 A spokesman for the company said the rent was still significantly below those charged at other parks in the area and that the rise was necessary to make improvements. © The Times, London/News Licensing This article originally appeared in The Times, London. 0 – 2 PROPERTY BOOMImmobilienboom — financial hardship f. Not — to run for public office für ein Amt kandidieren — redoubt “rI"daUt‘ (fig) Bastion — affordable “´"fO…d´b´l‘ bezahlbar — demand Nachfrage — to reside “rI"zaId‘ wohnen 3 manufactured “Æmœnj´"fœktS´d‘ speziell angefertigt — plot of land Stück Land — prospective “pr´"spektIv‘ potenziell — compassion Mitgefühl — tenant “"ten´nt‘ Mieter(in) — virtually “"v‰…tSu´li‘ praktisch — revenues “"rev´nju…z‘ Einnahmen — occupancy “"Åkj´p´nsi‘ Belegung; h.: Mieter(innen) 4 – 8 advocate “"œdv´k´t‘ Verfechter(in); Fürsprecher(in) — operator “"Åp´reIt´‘ Betreiber(in) — to point to anführen — to maintain erhalten — means Möglichkeit — regulation “Æregj´"leIS´n‘ Verordnung — to borrow against (a property) (e-e Immobilie) beleihen — disability benefits “ÆdIs´"bIl´ti‘ Invaliditätsleistungen (d. Behinderung) — spokesman Sprecher Lynching is finally to be made a federal hate crime LAW By Hugh Tomlinson 1 AFTER more than a century and 200 failed attempts, Congress has passed legislation that will make lynching a federal hate crime, sending the bill to President Biden to sign into law. After sailing through the House of Representatives last month, the Senate unanimously passed the Emmett Till Antilynching Act on Monday night. It is named after the 14-year-old black boy who was murdered after being accused of insulting a white woman in Mississippi in 1955, one of the most notorious race crimes in America’s modern history. The law will designate lynching as a hate crime, punishable by 30 years in jail. 2 “Lynching is a longstanding and uniquely American weapon of racial terror that has for decades been used to maintain the Emmett Till, for whom the Emmett Till Antilynching Act is named. | Photo: Getty Images white hierarchy,” Bobby Rush, a Democratic representative for Illinois who pushed the bill, said in a statement. … 3 The law is largely symbolic, as a fatal lynching would still carry a murder charge, punishable by life imprisonment or the death penalty. The new legislation will allow prosecution for conspiracy to commit a hate crime in such cases, however, and acknowledges that lynching carries a deeper social and political context. 4 Lynchings became rampant across Southern states in the decades after the American Civil War. The Equal Justice Initiative has documented 4,081 lynchings in 12 Southern states between 1877 and 1950. Most went unpunished, with white detectives declining to investigate or suspects cleared by all-white juries. 5 Among them were the men who killed Till, a teenager from Chicago who was visiting relatives in Mississippi when he was accused of whistling at a white woman, Carolyn Bryant, in a grocery shop. The woman’s husband, Roy, and his half-brother, JW Milam, kidnapped Till, then tortured the boy before shooting him in the head and sinking his body in the Tallahatchie River. Bryant and Milam were cleared of murder by an all-white jury, later admitting the lynching when they were protected by double-jeopardy laws. 6 The killing provoked nationwide revulsion and became a springboard for a new phase in the civil rights movement. … © The Times, London/News Licensing This article originally appeared in The Times, London. 0 – 1 LYNCHING “"lIntSIN‘ Lynchmord — federal hate crime auf Bundesebene als Hassverbrechen eingestufter Straftatbestand — to pass legislation “ÆledZI"sleIS´n‘ ein Gesetz verabschieden — to sign a bill into law ein Gesetz unterzeichnen — to sail through problemlos passieren — unanimously “ju…"nœnIm´sli‘ einstimmig — act Gesetz — notorious “n´U"tO…ri´s‘ berüchtigt — to designate as s.th. “"dezIgneIt‘ zu etw. erklären — to be punishable by ... “"pønIS´b´l‘ mit ... bestraft werden 2 – 3 racial “"reIS´l‘ rassistisch — to maintain aufrechterhalten — hierarchy “"haI´rA…ki‘ — fatal “"feIt´l‘ tödlich — to carry a murder charge e-e Anklage wegen Mordes bedeuten — life imprisonment lebenslange Freiheitsstrafe — death penalty Todesstrafe — prosecution “ÆprÅsI"kju…S´n‘ Strafverfolgung; Anklage — conspiracy “k´n"spIr´si‘ Verschwörung; h.: Verabredung — to acknowledge “´k"nÅlIdZ‘ anerkennen 4 – 6 to become rampant grassieren — to clear s.o. jdn. freisprechen — jury “"dZU´ri‘ Jury; Geschworenenbank — to torture foltern — double-jeopardy law “"dZep´di‘ Gesetz zum Verbot der Doppelbestrafung — to provoke sorgen für — revulsion “rI"vølS´n‘ Abscheu
World and Press | June 1 2022 USA 5 Are free buses a tool for social justice? PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION Three bus lines that run through predominantly Black Boston neighborhoods will be fare-free for the next two years. mit Übungsmaterial By Joanna Slater 1 ON A RECENT winter morning, Barry Hurd was sitting on a bench waiting for the bus after a trip to the supermarket. Hurd, 64, gets by on his monthly disability payment, but it’s not easy. “The food is high, rent high, everything high,” he said. “Unless you win the lottery, you’re not saving.” The only thing that isn’t expensive is the bus: When the No. 28 pulls up to the stop, Hurd hoists his small metal shopping cart through the back door and steps in without paying a fare. “It’s a beautiful thing,” he said of the free bus service. “We need more of it.” 2 Hurd’s bus route is part of a bold experiment unfolding in Boston with echoes around the country. Michelle Wu, the city’s newly elected mayor, has made free public transportation a rallying cry and a personal mission, calling it a tool for social justice and tackling climate change. 3 Earlier this month, Boston took a small step toward what Wu hopes will be a far larger goal. Three heavily used bus lines that run through the heart of predominantly Black neighborhoods will be fare-free for the next two years in a pilot program the city is closely studying. “This is part of our legacy as a city, to truly invest in the ways that our futures are interconnected,” Wu said in an interview. “If we are serious about climate justice and racial equity and mobility, then removing barriers to public transportation ... would be a major step forward.” 4 Boston isn’t the only place experimenting with free public transportation. More than two years into the coronavirus pandemic, the concept is having a moment across the United States, thanks partly to federal recovery 0 – 2 PREDOMINANTLY “prI"dÅmIn´ntli‘ überwiegend — to get by gerade so über die Runden kommen — disability payment “ÆdIs´"bIl´ti‘ Invaliditätszahlung (d. Behinderung) — to hoist hieven — shopping cart Einkaufswagen — to unfold s. vollziehen — public transportation ÖPNV — rallying cry “"rœlIIN‘ Slogan — to tackle bekämpfen 3 – 4 closely eingehend — legacy “"leg´si‘ Vermächtnis — interconnected miteinander verbunden — racial equity “"reIS´l; "ekwIti‘ Gleichheit zw. Schwarzen und Weißen — to be having a moment (fig, coll) im Trend liegen — federal recovery funds staatl. Hilfsgelder — to lure “lU´‘ locken — ridership Fahrgastaufkommen; s.w.u. rider Fahrgast 5 advocate “"œdv´k´t‘ Befürworter(in); s.w.u. advocacy Einsatz — to discourage abhalten von A bus on Boston’s No. 28 line, which is fare-free for all riders for the next two years. | Photo: Getty Images/Boston Globe funds and a desire to lure back passengers. Nationwide, ridership remains just 63% of prepandemic levels, according to the American Public Transportation Association (APTA). 5 Advocates for free transportation say it increases ridership, discourages car use, and provides greater access to jobs and education, particularly for lowerincome residents and communities of color. The major challenge is how to pay for it, especially in large cities where fares make up a good chunk of transit revenue. 6 Boston’s Wu has emerged as the concept’s highest-profile evangelist. When she ran for mayor last fall, Wu memorably promised to “free the T,” the colloquial name for the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA). … She started talking about making public transportation free when she was a member of the Boston City Council. In 2019, when the MBTA sought to raise fares, Wu wrote an op-ed saying fares should be abolished instead. 7 Her advocacy caught the attention of Daniel Rivera, a friend who was then mayor of Lawrence, a city of 90,000 north of Boston whose population is predominantly Hispanic or Latino. Rivera ran the numbers and found that the cost of replacing fare revenue from the city’s three most popular bus routes for two years was 5,000, small enough that it could be funded through existing cash reserves. The buses became free in 2019, and ridership jumped. ... 8 Wu, who toggles between idealism and hard-nosed pragmatism, is accustomed to hearing that her goal of free public transportation is unrealistic because of its cost. She recalled being told that even launching a pilot of such a project in Boston would be — a good chunk ein Großteil — transit revenue “"rev´nju…‘ Einnahmen aus dem Nahverkehr 6 to emerge in Erscheinung treten — highestprofile bekannteste(r,s) — evangelist “I"vœndZ´lIst‘ begeisterte(r) Verfechter(in) — to run kandidieren — fall (AE) Herbst — memorably “"mem´r´bli‘ denkwürdigerweise — colloquial “k´"l´Ukwi´l‘ umgangssprachlich — transportation authority “O…"TÅr´ti‘ Verkehrsverbund — to seek to do tun wollen — op-ed Kommentar — to abolish “´"bÅlIS‘ abschaffen 7 – 9 to run the numbers nachrechnen — to fund finanzieren — to jump sprunghaft ansteigen — to toggle wechseln — hard-nosed (coll) nüchtern — to be accustomed to doing “´"køst´md‘ gewohnt sein zu tun — statutory “"stœtS´t´ri‘ gesetzlich — implications “ÆImplI"keIS´nz‘ Auswirkungen — impossible, particularly one that lasted longer than six months. 9 Getting there wasn’t easy: It took months of discussions with the MBTA about the actual cost of the experiment and its statutory implications, plus several conversations between Wu and Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg to overcome a regulatory hurdle. Boston is paying for the project with million of federal recovery funds. … 10 The buses run through areas of Boston that are home to large numbers of immigrants and lower-income residents. One of them is Roxbury, a center of Boston’s Black community and a neighborhood that doesn’t have easy access to a subway line. The regional planning agency for the Boston area found that Black riders spent 64 more hours a year on buses than White riders. “It’s hard to miss the fact that we have historically underinvested in transit transportation secretary Verkehrsminister(in) — to overcome überwinden — regulatory hurdle “Æregj´"leIt´ri; "h‰…d´l‘ Verwaltungshürde 10 – 11 subway (AE) U-Bahn — planning agency “"eIdZ´nsi‘ Planungsbehörde — historically in der Vergangenheit — to underinvest in zu wenig investieren in — chief of streets, transportation, and sanitation Leiter(in) der Abteilung für Straßen, Verkehr und Stadthygiene — to right a wrong e-n Fehler beheben — encouraging vielversprechend — to swipe durch ein Kartenlesegerät ziehen — to fumble for suchen nach — change Kleingeld 12 general manager Geschäftsführer(in) — proposition Unterfangen — billion Milliarde — folks (coll) Leute — mode of transportation Transportmittel in these communities of color,” said Jascha Franklin-Hodge, Boston’s chief of streets, transportation, and sanitation. “So partly this is about saying, ‘How do we right that wrong?’” 11 The early results are encouraging, he said. One of the buses became free last August in an initial pilot. Ridership on the route jumped 22%, said Franklin- Hodge. Meanwhile, the amount of time that buses spent stopped decreased, because passengers boarded more quickly from all doors, without the need to swipe cards or fumble for change. 12 Boston’s MBTA is open to experimenting with fare-free rides – provided someone else is sponsoring the cost. Fare-free pilots can be more complex than they appear, said Steven Poftak, general manager of the MBTA. To fully “free the T” would be an expensive proposition. Before the pandemic, the MBTA had a .3 billion budget and collected about 0 million in fare revenue, said Poftak. “If folks want to make all modes of transportation free ... not only does that revenue need to be replaced, we probably need additional revenue because of the effect” on rides for people with disabilities, he said. … © 2022 The Washington Post Special World and Press: • Original englischsprachige Pressetexte auf Abiturniveau • Niveau B2 – C2, gymnasiale Oberstufe • Inkl. Infografiken und Fotos Black Lives Matter Themenheft 56 Seiten, DIN A4, Softcover ¤ 16,90 [D] ISBN 978-3-7961-1077-1 www.sprachzeitungen.de
