Long Term Camping Portland/Vancouver WA?

[FLgirl]

The good news is that after 6 months of living in my car, camping in rest areas and Walmart, my parents have decided to ‘gift’ me a 1989 Pace Arrow 30 foot motorhome. The bad news is this is much harder to park without sticking out like a sore thumb!  I have been working as an independent contractor doing various things to afford to live and I need to stay in the area for a while to keep doing that and I really want the RV which would be a palace compared to how I’ve been living but I don’t know where to park it. The RV parks I’ve looked at won’t allow something this old and I need cheap, as in, dirt cheap to afford it. 

So I’m not sure where to look next.  I’ve tried craigslist and Airbnb and found no parking offers. I can’t really keep doing what I have been doing because I still need my car for work and can’t drive both at once so I need to be able to park the beast for many days at a time, maybe months. Does anyone have any suggestions for parking it?

 

[lenny flank]

Do you really need it? If not, sell it.

 

[John61CT]

Keep the old vehicle while you give it a try seeing if you get hassled much.

See if you can actively look for free/cheap spots where owners give permission, maybe rotating between say a half dozen?

Out of town safe storage shouldn't be more that $100-150 a month?

 

[GeorgiePorgie]

Don't Portland and Vancouver allow homeless people to camp on the streets legally? Seems like an RV would not be hassled too much if that is the case.

 

[FLgirl]

As far as I know it isn’t really legal to just park overnight anywhere. Even a lot of the Walmart’s around here won’t allow it and the police hassle you even in the ones that do and that’s been in a car. An RV would stand out even more.

 

[FLgirl]

I did check on the legality issue to see how Portland handles this and found that it is not legal to camp on the streets but that the constitutionality of that has been challenged and there have been other lawsuits which has prompted some changes in how it’s handled if campers are found. They are now given notice before citations are issued and time to move. So not legal but more friendly than some cities I suppose.

 

[curlew]

I did check on the legality issue to see how Portland handles this and found that it is not legal to camp on the streets but that the constitutionality of that has been challenged and there have been other lawsuits which has prompted some changes in how it’s handled if campers are found. They are now given notice before citations are issued and time to move. So not legal but more friendly than some cities I suppose.

Just keep moving around and keep your van looking nice and stay out of residential areas. Do you have any idea how creepy it is to have mystery folk in ratty looking vehicles parked in front of your house morning after morning when you leave for work or the kids leave for school? A homeowner will ignore one morning, especially if your van looks well maintained and is not that stereotypical sneaky white cargo van. But if you are there the next morning, the police will be called.

 

[Annie W]

Since you're from Fla. but now in Vancouver WA, are you willing to park it a bit further away in WA? How much further?