RV Living in Google's Backyard and a Ban that's coming

[PeninsularCrew]

There are thousands of people living in RVs all over Silicon Valley because traditional housing is so expensive. Mountain View is banned this, along with Berkeley and other towns. Where will these people go?

What do people think? Is it right to ban overnight RV parking?

Moderator Edit: I edited out the links as per forum rules - new members must have ten posts before including links. Since this thread has garnered so much interested I didn't want to delete the entire thread.

 

[travelaround]

Will the new appellate decision banning the criminalization of the homeless not apply to homeless van or RV dwellers?

https://www.curbed.com/2019/4/5/18296772/homeless-lawsuit-boise-appeals-court

 

[WanderingRose]

The linked Bloomberg article begins by discussing raw sewage draining onto the street from an RV a young couple are living in.

I don’t know what the answer is, but I believe that banning these kinds of cities within cities will continue to happen, and understand it to a great extent.

I have a small, very modest S&B, and if RV’s and vans began taking up semi permanent residence on my street, particularly if they leaked sewage, etc., I would have an issue with it.

It would seem the high cost of housing could be addressed, if there was a desire to do so.

It sounds like a parallel issue is residents in these wealthy areas not wanting more housing for low income people...not in their towns.

Martin v. City of Boise states cities will not be able to arrest or punish people for sleeping on public property unless they provide adequate and relatively accessible indoor accommodations.

This is an “if other accommodations are not available” restriction on law enforcement, and would apply to all, it would seem, tho “on the street” vs “in a vehicle” are two different things.

 

[MrNoodly]

Mountain View used to be one of the tolerant Silicon Valley cities.

 

[travelaround]

Apparently the decision in Martin v. Boise tells us you can sleep on the sidewalk if there aren't enough shelter beds, but RVs and vans can still be prohibited? There needs to be another appellate case to decide that.

San Diego has a new vehicle dweller's ordinance... they're solving the problem by banning it in some areas and expanding parking lots where RV/van/car sleeping is okay.
https://www.nbcsandiego.com/news/local/Timeline-of-San-Diegos-Ban-on-Sleeping-in-Cars-509920591.html

Maybe Berkeley and other concerned cities should do the same - provide areas where people can park to sleep. Good idea.

 

[travelaround]

I'm thinking mainly of Berkeley because that was my hang-out spot when I was a teenager ... I lived just north of there in El Sobrante. Back then there were lots of people crowding the sidewalks of Telegraph Avenue, but I don't recall ever seeing people sleeping there. Times have changed and these cities need to change along with the times. I remember looking for a homeless friend there in People's Park in the 1990's... just north of Telegraph... there were hundreds of people camped there at the time.

 

[Matlock]

Just another weekend (some street) in San Fran ...

Oh ya, that's liv'in big time right there.

 

[WanderingRose]

I agree with that, travelaround, more lots where sleeping in one’s vehicle is safe and okay.

Then, the problem of where these rigs would go during the day?

It’s going to all get worse before it gets better, methinks.

 

[jim solo]

My Father bought an eleven room house in Pgh, Pa in 1955 for $9,5oo. Now that same house in on the market, with a few improvements, for $248,000. I'd be living on the streets if I still lived there. It is terrible that people can't afford a house with a foundation, and have a good job if that is what they want.

But, I'm learning that living in an RV is not so bad, it takes some adjustment. The local Governments needs to adjust to what they created (the mess) with housing. And the folks living in the RV's in these places, need to take care of their surroundings.

There is no fair solution here. What is that thing Jimmy Carter does with the S&B homes. Can not think what it is called. Used RV's, Van's and Campers remodeled for the needy. Some thing to that affect.

 

[abnorm]

^^^^^Habitat for Humanity

I like...............….Homes On Wheels Alliance

 

[jim solo]

Habitat for Humanity

Yeah !, that's it. 

Homes On Wheels Alliance

I thought there was like the above mentioned.

 

[lenny flank]

Every time some new city bans dwelling, it is always for the same reasons: 1. people who park in the same spot forever and don't move, 2. people who panhandle everyone within sight, and 3. people who dump their shit, literally, on the street.

We are, as a group, our own worst enemy. (Though to be fair, it is only a small handful of shitheads who cause all the trouble for the rest of us.)

 

[rvwandering]

Please stay on topic which is " RV Living in Google's Backyard"  - https://www.bloomberg.com/news/feat...-s-shame-living-in-a-van-in-google-s-backyard

 Political posts and posts that denigrate anyone will be deleted.
 Thanks!

 

[jeanmarie]

Mountain View used to be one of the tolerant Silicon Valley cities.

The problem comes when towns try to be so open minded that their brains fall out.

 

[WanderingRose]

This in the Washington Post today

https://www.washingtonpost.com/nati...673edf2d127_story.html?utm_term=.7df4a75dc687

 

[maki2]

At least RV living is not banned in Amazon-Seattle's backyard. You can legally sleep in your car. But for vehicles over 80" wide you have to do it in the areas zoned as industrial.

Of course you must also obey any local signs that have additional parking rules and restrictions for number of hours or times of day on them.