boondocking in seattle
- Thread starter damian63
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If your looking for a safe place to just spend the night(s), you will have to leave in the morning... Go to Renton, find Lind ave. (west of 167 going N-S) and Lind ave goes through prime industrial areas... Now park out of the way, keep the noise and trash down and you can stay for a good while...<br /><br />Now are you looking for wooded NF areas I can give ya some, but the winter is coming fast and if not ready can be deadly...
Hi Damian - our daughter lives in Seattle so we spend a good bit of time there. Finding a place to park is tough. Most of the Walmarts do not allow even one night parking. You could try parking south of the airport in the industrial area. We stay in the casinos a lot. We move around so that we don't get noticed too much. You can also stay in the rest areas along I-5 but they ,and actually the casinos too, are pretty far away from the city. If you know anybody in the city ,try parking on the street by their house. We did that for many years at our daughter's but a few years ago somebody complained ( we're a little more conspicuous with our motorhome) and now we have to park on a non-residential street and move every so many days.
peacetara
Well-known member
This isn't very exciting to hear, I'm on my way to Seattle!<br /><br />I'm in an Van, and my sister is there, I was planning on just staying next to my sister's house. I hope people are more welcoming where she is (just north of Seattle somewhere).
Have a good trip peacetara! If your sister knows her neighbors fairly well have her talk with them before you come so that they will know you belong in the neighborhood. When our daughter moved to Seattle and we started visiting her there her neighborhood was under transition and a lot of the people were new ,just getting to know each other and pretty friendly. We had no problem for years.Then as the neighborhood got more settled , more people moved in , the parking situation got tighter and one day a neighbor whom we had never met made a comment to our daughter about the" people living on the street in the RV". Us! Our daughter said "Oh ,yeah , that's my parents" :-D We think that she was probably the one who complained to the city.
fluffabear
Well-known member
I used to park in the industrial area of Renton myself. You can also park for 24 hours at the Tukwila light rail station (Southcenter Boulevard), and can usually get away with a day or so around the industrial areas of West Seattle. <br /><br />Don't try to park in Ballard or Crown Hill, you *will* be harassed. Also, stay away from SODO and the U. District.. They are often car prowl and police harassment hotspots.
I lived in Bothell for a few months last year (in an apartment), but youtuber Kyle Pounds has a video <a href="">here</a> where he shows the neighborhood where he stayed and the Woodinville B&N, but I don't know how long he stayed in that area.
Pikachu711
Well-known member
This is a very interesting topic. I've considered spending some time in Seattle so I'm finding a great deal of useful information here as well. I recall seeing a youtube video of a van dweller in Seattle and he gave the impression that the van dwelling situation isn't too bad unless you know NOT where to park.
Off I-5 there is a road between Boeing air field and the freeway... It is quiet at night, fairly safe and you can find a wide spot to camp on... The only issue you would have is after a bit I am sure the cops would move you along... Life in the big city, but will buy ya some time to scout around, some industrial areas to the west of this spot and warehouses...<br /><br />Boeing field is in S. Seattle between Renton and Seattle on the west side of I-5<br /><br />The issue is the RV itself, sticks out like a sore thumb, a van in Seattle has a better chance...
<p>Do you mean this street? http://goo.gl/maps/U4b85 Or Airport way?<br /><br />Here are some spots i used to camp at years ago but not sure if they are viable any more.</p><p> </p><p>In the university District</p><p><a href="http://goo.gl/maps/tEyFk">http://goo.gl/maps/tEyFk</a><br /><br />Here was a good place in North Seattle.</p><p><a href="http://goo.gl/maps/5nlqs">http://goo.gl/maps/5nlqs</a></p><p>in fact there was a guy that camped near that spot for at least 10 years, but i dont see him there anymore on street view <img src="/images/boards/smilies/frown.gif" border="0" align="absmiddle"><br /><br />Along this street here used to be really good but this is one of the places that banned overnight parking <img src="/images/boards/smilies/frown.gif" border="0" align="absmiddle"></p><p><a href="http://goo.gl/maps/mnndK">http://goo.gl/maps/mnndK<br /></a><br />So anyhow thats kinda like the information im looking for. i was talking to an old friend who is a homeless youth advocate and he was telling me that some of the Bigger churches out there may be letting people park in their driveways. he was looking into that for me so maybe ill get lucky there!</p>
If you don't mind heading north about a half an hour I'm in the Lynnwood area (for the next week or so). I know the Walmart here on 164th has a full parking lot most nights, people who obviously live in their cars and trucks and there are always RVs. I've seen the same couple of conversion vans there for, literally, months. <br /><br />Otherwise Lynnwood is also bursting with apartment complexes and condos that have private parking but side streets beside and behind where people park. I see RVs and vans here all the time. It's funny, I can trace their progression moving every few weeks like half a block at a time. So many apartments around, no one keeps track of who belongs to what cars. <br /><br />Seattle itself is tougher, though if you can find where Nickelsville is these days I hear there are usually car campers that stay on the outskirts of the tent cities. There's also a woman on Twitter, Carey Fuller, who lives in her van with her daughter in the Kent area and is constantly helping the homeless and the people living in cars around Kent and Auburn. She's a really good person to look up, a big advocate for the homeless around there.
Well im still in a house until beginning of December. At which point the current plan is to head To Seattle. I "might" stay in the Springfield/Eugene area for a month though depending on where i get with repairs on my Rig. I need to get a Fuel Pump for the generator and a house battery and my budget for november is less than 80 bucks... so... yeah. fun times!
You can check out the ballard area near the les shwab tire store. I used to deliver there and there are motorhomes full of stuff that have been parked in that area for months. Also check out westlake avenue north of of mercer street on the east side of the road. That is where people park who live on boats. If you arrive after dark and leave early in the morning and dont park in the same place all the time, it will probably be ok.
Hi all, this is my first post here on the forum. I am new to van-dwelling although from reading this post, it reminded me of my youth in Seattle. At one point I was delivering pizzas and living in my bread van. No one ever hassled me. I stayed on Queen Anne hill every night in a different spot. I wonder if one can still "do" Q-Anne w/out being hassled? Times have changed so my guess would be it would be a lot harder. Anyhow, I thought I would add my 2 cents to the thread.<br><br>Good luck to you!
