RV parks provide temporary housing for out-of-town workers
COLUMBUS, Miss. (WCBI) – Using campgrounds for housing, is the route that many out-of-town workers who choose the Golden Triangle for their profession take.
“In the Golden Triangle, our workforce comes from 37 counties and two states. If you live in Monroe, Oktibbeha, Clay, Lamar, or Pickens counties, you are probably getting up, going to work, and then coming home every day. As those distances get greater, it makes it impractical for those drive times,” said Joe Max Higgins, Golden Triangle Link CEO.
Most of the workers who depend on campgrounds are plant, construction, and steel dynamic workers who often work long hours with not much time in between.
“A lot of these plants are working four days a week and 12-hour shifts. By the time you work 12 hours and then have to drive 2 hours, that gets to be a long day,” said Higgins.
CEO of the Golden Triangle Link Joe Max Higgins said the long hour shifts are another reason why the link is working with RV parks to provide affordable housing.
We have been seeing for years the people who work here and need places to live, a lot of them are using RVs,” said Higgins.
The RV parks not only allow workers to save time, but they are also saving money.
“We called one last week and asked them what they are charging per RV, and they responded and said $600 a month. You can have water and sewer pickup and furnish your trailer, for just $600 per month,” said Higgins.
Higgins said those savings trickle down to those who call the Golden Triangle their permanent home.
“Without access to the RV parks and people who use that as an option for these construction projects that would further stress our rental markets. It would likely drive the rent up even higher, and then the availability would be down,” said Higgins.
Higgins said there are more than 3,000 construction workers in Columbus that rely on RV parks for housing
