City boondocking...?

[SusiB]

I am currently in the MW, having missed the seasonal winter work due to family issues. I was boondocking at my son's, but the neighbor pulled property line "rank" and I had to move. I have now been behind his work, a strip mall, for two weeks. His boss is a generous soul, but this can't go on...

HOW does one advertise or find low-cost boondocking within a city? This is NOT a user-friendly city for generalized boondocking and I cannot afford an RV park.

Help? Thank you.

 

[bullfrog !]

Check with construction companies as they sometimes offer to let you stay on their work sites or storage lots just to have a presence there notifying them if there are trespassers or fires. Often large storage/parking lots will allow 24 hour access. Put an add on local want adds. Get a trial membership at a 24 hour gym. Look at a job that has 24 hour employee parking like restaurants or bars. Work night audit at a hotel and sleep in day use areas like parks. Colleges sometimes have spaces for students maybe sign up for a gym class and get free showers as well. School bus drivers usually have access to 24 hour parking as they work all hours taking extracurricular trips, maybe take a job doing that. Look at the surrounding areas for house setting jobs as well. Check with some realtors for people flipping houses as they may want to rent their driveway for some extra income until the main property is done with repairs or rented. Volunteer at local food bank or church and see if someone there will help find you a place to park. There are lots of opportunities out there just start looking and asking.

 

[frater secessus]

HOW does one advertise or find low-cost boondocking within a city?

Stealth camping is fairly common. Basic idea is to get a good rotation going, arrive late / leave early, etc.

 

[afblangley]

Bullfrog gave some excellent general ideas. Tell us where you are if you want specific suggestions from folks familiar with a given area. My suggestions for Chicago would be different than for Pittsburgh, for example.

 

[SusiB]

Check with construction companies as they sometimes offer to let you stay on their work sites or storage lots just to have a presence there notifying them if there are trespassers or fires. Often large storage/parking lots will allow 24 hour access. Put an add on local want adds. Get a trial membership at a 24 hour gym. Look at a job that has 24 hour employee parking like restaurants or bars. Work night audit at a hotel and sleep in day use areas like parks. Colleges sometimes have spaces for students maybe sign up for a gym class and get free showers as well. School bus drivers usually have access to 24 hour parking as they work all hours taking extracurricular trips, maybe take a job doing that. Look at the surrounding areas for house setting jobs as well. Check with some realtors for people flipping houses as they may want to rent their driveway for some extra income until the main property is done with repairs or rented. Volunteer at local food bank or church and see if someone there will help find you a place to park. There are lots of opportunities out there just start looking and as

Bullfrog gave some excellent general ideas. Tell us where you are if you want specific suggestions from folks familiar with a given area. My suggestions for Chicago would be different than for Pittsburgh, for example.

Springfield MO. I agree about the advice, and am grateful. I would have to add that I got my first "knock" at the 24 hr gym. The businesses sent security after me, convinced I was spending the night. I wasn't. I've boondocked over the 1 1/2 years I've had my camper van. This town "feels" different, less tolerant.

 

[SusiB]

Check with construction companies as they sometimes offer to let you stay on their work sites or storage lots just to have a presence there notifying them if there are trespassers or fires. Often large storage/parking lots will allow 24 hour access. Put an add on local want adds. Get a trial membership at a 24 hour gym. Look at a job that has 24 hour employee parking like restaurants or bars. Work night audit at a hotel and sleep in day use areas like parks. Colleges sometimes have spaces for students maybe sign up for a gym class and get free showers as well. School bus drivers usually have access to 24 hour parking as they work all hours taking extracurricular trips, maybe take a job doing that. Look at the surrounding areas for house setting jobs as well. Check with some realtors for people flipping houses as they may want to rent their driveway for some extra income until the main property is done with repairs or rented. Volunteer at local food bank or church and see if someone there will help find you a place to park. There are lots of opportunities out there just start looking and asking.

Thank you!

 

[DRAGNSHIP]

Like bullfrog said, gym membership like PF - last time I looked into it around $40/month and suburban/urban areas have 3 or 4 within 1 hr drive from each other, often 24 hrs. Walk on the treadmill watching some tv and take a hot shower, and thoughtful shuffling of parking spots and bouncing between locations should get the job done until you find better options. The gyms are almost always right around Wal-Marts or other big box stores to hopefully aid in your stealth parking.

 

[RoamerRV428]

freecampsites.com
type in 'city and state' and see what hits near you. One resource to use.

Also 'google' search 'county campgrounds' cause some bigger cities have a few cgs that are 'very cheap' per night right in that county so another possible source.

HarvestHosts.com....ya might hit a biz that gives free camping for a few nights with their biz so it could be a possible resource to use.

you say private cgs are higher in cost and can't handle that but 'state parks' in 'some truth' can be alot cheaper, as low as 15 or less per month if older resident price too......but this is iffy in the area but another thing to 'check'

key being like posted above by frater s.....you can combine movement. if you can swing a few days paid in cheaper state park in the area, or a county park offered if around, then combine work biz and others, you can stealth thru it all. So like mentioned, your rotation is key to your stealth survival if you wanna stay in a specific area kinda. Wishing you the best way forward!!

 

[rvwandering]

Here are a couple of places where you can spend the night without getting a knock.
Cracker Barrel https://www.crackerbarrel.com/Locations/States/mo/springfield/127
Flying J https://locations.pilotflyingj.com/us/mo/springfield/4939-west-chestnut-expressway
It doesn't look good at the Walmarts but you could try Sam's Club, Cosco, and Bass Pro.
We've stayed overnight at Home Depots and Lowes across the country and were told that it wasn't permitted in one place only - a resort area in Florida.
An interesting option that I just stumbled upon: Bob's parking. $10 a night $80 a month. https://www.bobsparking.com/
https://www.facebook.com/bobsparkingmo/

 

[afblangley]

I spent 10 days in Branson, rotating around my usual nighttime spots- the parking lots of hospitals, apartment complexes, and city parks. Being a touristy place, many attractions there had parking lots I could hang out during the day. The place didn't seem unusually hostile to me. But Springfield is up the road, and there may be a world of difference. Hopefully someone who on knows the area will pipe in and share their expertise.

Edit: when I posted this I saw rvwandering's link to Bob's Parking. Great find!

 

[Frood]

Here are a couple of places where you can spend the night without getting a knock.
Cracker Barrel https://www.crackerbarrel.com/Locations/States/mo/springfield/127
Flying J https://locations.pilotflyingj.com/us/mo/springfield/4939-west-chestnut-expressway
It doesn't look good at the Walmarts but you could try Sam's Club, Cosco, and Bass Pro.
We've stayed overnight at Home Depots and Lowes across the country and were told that it wasn't permitted in one place only - a resort area in Florida.
An interesting option that I just stumbled upon: Bob's parking. $10 a night $80 a month. https://www.bobsparking.com/
https://www.facebook.com/bobsparkingmo/

Sadly many of the above are held hostage by local ordinances. It's like this in Moreno Valley here in So. Cal. Even if the commercial property owner doesn't care, the city prohibits it.

 

[maki2]

People flipping houses would rarely be giving a person the rights to sleep/dwell on the property. That is simply on many levels a too risky setup for the property owner. The same thing is true for real estate agencies.

 

[bullfrog !]

I have known people to house set for people flipping houses as well as real estate people paying for landscaping and allowing the landscaper to stay in the driveway overnight. In many locations it is a good thing to make the property appear occupied with a vehicle in the driveway and some activity during the day, might want to point that out when asking.

 

[johnjohn123]

Park on someone's property (your son's?) then go and buy one of those RV camper covers (like the nylon ones that look like a tent) and make sure it is one that fully closes. Move the RV/camper in there and boom, you're good. Try to be discreet as possible. If anyone asks if anyone is living in there, just say no. Try to be as discreet as possible.

 

[Firebuild]

I lived in my short bus in Boston for the better part of a year, and I mostly spent daytimes in day use camps, and rotated through Home Depot parking lots at night. There are a LOT of Home Depots in Boston, not sure about where you are, but I've never gotten a knock at one anywhere in the country. I have found in cities where van dwelling is not common, people aren't really expecting someone to be sleeping in a vehicle, so even in my little bus I mostly go unnoticed. My favorite camp spot when I'm in MA is the parking lot of the zoo. It's fun waking up to the sounds of all the animals singing for their breakfast. Another favorite for me is Park & Ride lots. The state of MA has a list of the ones that allow overnight parking on the government website, I imagine a lot of other states do too. Office parks have huge lots and rarely pay that much attention. Residential neighborhoods are the worst choice because there's always someone who has an issue with it, and an occupied vehicle is more likely to stand out.

 

[Debrajoy54]

I am currently in the MW, having missed the seasonal winter work due to family issues. I was boondocking at my son's, but the neighbor pulled property line "rank" and I had to move. I have now been behind his work, a strip mall, for two weeks. His boss is a generous soul, but this can't go on...

HOW does one advertise or find low-cost boondocking within a city? This is NOT a user-friendly city for generalized boondocking and I cannot afford an RV park.

Help? Thank you.

I live in Oceanside California, and I have wondered that myself because I don't really travel. I just bought a small travel trailer, 14 ft, I thought I would start by asking some of the business owners that have large areas behind their business. Of course it would be better, if I could find somebody that had a little bit of land with their house, not too many unless you go out into the country. I would love that too! Good luck sweetie

 

[Debrajoy54]

Like bullfrog said, gym membership like PF - last time I looked into it around $40/month and suburban/urban areas have 3 or 4 within 1 hr drive from each other, often 24 hrs. Walk on the treadmill watching some tv and take a hot shower, and thoughtful shuffling of parking spots and bouncing between locations should get the job done until you find better options. The gyms are almost always right around Wal-Marts or other big box stores to hopefully aid in your stealth parking.

Most gyms, like the planet fitness here in Oceanside, don't even bad an eye! I would take in my pink backpack go straight to the showers do my thing and then walk straight back out! They know what we are doing and they don't care!
I parked anywhere that had 24-hour businesses in it. Never had a problem. I love the Walmart over on Marin road because it had all its parking covered in solar which was very nice in the summer. I had a big blue camper van back then, very noticeable. I also parked in neighborhoods and never had a problem. Mostly the key, is keep your rig clean! And in between going to a car wash or whatever Just keep your windows clean It helps a lot. Now that I have a Little travel trailer That's not going to be so easy! Sure wish I hadn't sold Tank!

 

[ScattSheep]

Hey Y'all my question is how to find free safe parking over night and weekends in city?

 

[maki2]

Hey Y'all my question is how to find free safe parking over night and weekends in city?

Let’s start this conversation by YOU telling us what you think is going to work in a city for safe parking. I want to know exactly what kind of “street smarts” safety awareness skills you already have. Maybe you need a deep foundation laid, or maybe you already have most of this street smarts, situational awareness stuff already figured out but do not trust your basic instincts.


Just a reminder, there are already many hundreds of conversations in this forum covering exactly what you are asking about. You can access them using the search function.

 

[maki2]

Hey Y'all my question is how to find free safe parking over night and weekends in city?

Here is one tip for you. Before you go to a city to car camp look for the online police incident report page. Car prowls will be one of the items. There should be an associated map showing where they occur. If you see clusters of them in certain areas do not go to that area. Not only could you be personally unsafe there will also be an increased police presence likely to be knocking on your window because you yourself are engaging in a suspicious activity.