YOUR HOME IS IN OUR HANDS

We investigated the concept of home, in Victorville, a Los Angeles exurb that has significantly suffered the effects of the burst of the housing bubble. In order to consider the plight of the American dream, we created a small; two story ‘McMansion’ which we wheeled through the streets of Victorville, using it as a catalyst for engaging the citizenry. Employing the mobile home as a set, we made a video documentary; a portrait of Victorville.

Victorville is a sub-suburban town 100 miles from Los Angeles. It is a typical commuters town. For a few years Victorville seemed to be the American dream come true. Investors were buying the cheap land in the Mojave Desert and developed thousands of new homes. Because of this large-scale development the houses were two to three times cheaper than in the suburbs closer to Los Angeles. Homeownership came in reach for the low-income families. In 2006 the population grew by 10% and Victorville became the second-fastest growing city in the country. The housing boom came to a sudden end in 2007 and the property values dropped. The housing market crashed and the hyper-inflated mortgages caused people to walk away from their houses, giving Victorville some of the highest foreclosure rates in the state. In 2009 almost 1 in 4 houses were vacant.

In this project we are interested how the financial recession influences the lives of the people in the suburbs. How do the empty houses influence the neighborhood and how do the people reflect on the notion of home-ownership during these hard times? Is the burst of the housing bubble the end of the American dream? Through interviews with inhabitants we try to find answers to these questions. From 14 August until 24 August we walked through the streets of Victorville. In total we pushed the house for about 10 miles and did 35 interviews with people that we encountered on our way. The final end result of the intervention will be shown in a documentary.