RVs Everywhere!

[Stargazer]

Flew into San Francisco this morning to visit family in Mountain View, near Palo Alto.  Took the Super Shuttle, a shared ride Van, and dropped off a passenger at Stanford University.  The boulevard from there through Palo Alto and into Mountain View was lined with RVs, a few vans, couple TT's.  Never seen so many, like every third vehicle was a dwelling of some sort.  A few had tarps over the roof, presumably for leaks?  Wow! Maybe mostly students?  So many!  On a six lane divided boulevard, traffic whizzing by.  Just wow.

I can understand why some communities bar this.  If a pedestrian stepped out from between, it would be horrible.  You couldn't see over or around them to the sidewalks.  I'm glad I wasn't driving.

 

[BigT]

I live near the area so this is nothing new to me, but it still surprises me that a town like "Shallow Alto" doesn't run those people off.

btw... Many of the RV's are owned by people who work in the area but have been priced out of the rental market by the insane housing prices.

Crisanto Ave. in Mountain View (corner of Rengstorff & Central Exp.) has even more RV's and TT's parking on it. They've been there for years.

Another case of people who can't afford to live in the Bay Area.

 

[deadwood]

Same in LA and San Diego and most of southern California. It's getting a little out of control in some places.

 

[twotwinpeaks]

Just a note for the Flip Side. In Lakeside CA, just east of San Diego on HWY 8 business the county recently put up signs on a stretch that had numerous RV's and Campers parked that read:

"No vehicles that can be considered habitable can stop between the hours of 10pm and 6am"

That seems really draconian

 

[breeze]

San Diego has a big State Pen down there and it's right next to Mexico, so they may have good reasons for public safety. Van dwellers should be aware of their environment, in CA especially, and San Diego may not be the best tourist location.

Los Angeles Chargers did not like it!  

 

[Travelmonkey]

There was a recent TV news segment on the RV dwellers in Palo Alto. The Palo Alto police were starting to enforce 72 hour parking limitations. They gave the dwellers notice in advance and if I recall there were social workers that could provide information to get help if needed. I thought it was handled well. Difficult situation for all parties.

They are not students. If you can get accepted into Stanford University, you probably figured out how to pay tuition and room/board.

 

[John61CT]

That's really offensive; there are plenty of poors that have managed to get into Stanford on full scholarship but aren't able to afford local living expenses.

Yes communities have the right to ban living in vehicles, and most will do exactly that as soon as it gets perceived as a problem by property owners.

The housing crises where the opportunities are will require a more systemic solution.

 

[rm.w/aview]

I read it, in using the word probably, that there's the implication of a certain level of chance involved that costs were "handled" which also implies a certain level of chance that they were not, enter the poors.

 

[Travelmonkey]

That's really offensive; there are plenty of poors that have managed to get into Stanford on full scholarship but aren't able to afford local living expenses.

Yes communities have the right to ban living in vehicles, and most will do exactly that as soon as it gets perceived as a problem by property owners.

The housing crises where the opportunities are will require a more systemic solution.

It wasn't meant to be offensive; I apologize that you took it that way.  Stanford tuition plus room and board probably costs around $70k per year.  They tend to take the best and brightest students who I would guess have taken the costs of living in this expensive area into account before attending.  

The news segment interviewed a few people.  One was living in the RV b/c a spouse was being treated at the Stanford hospital.  None said they were students.

 

[John61CT]

Yes I was not trying to argue that there are many students in the group.

Not that that would make any difference to me.

Just that the top colleges in the US like Stanford strive to be "needs blind" in their admissions, and it is very common for low-income students on full scholarships to have a very hard time on their living expenses, even in getting enough to eat, forget about textbooks costing hundreds each.

Rents in this particular area are truly out of control, and I'd hope you agree that the more intelligent the student, the more they'd realize getting that education would be worth whatever sacrifice it took, even living out in the streets.

As opposed to saying, well I can't afford living there so I'll just go to local community college instead.

 

[Aesthetic Voyager]

Same in Seattle.


[VICTORY HAND]️?[emoji868]

 

[MrNoodly]

It's not students living in those RVs they're lower rung tech workers or other "working poor." Housing costs in SF and Silicon Valley are outrageously high. Ordinary people can't afford it.

 

[Travelmonkey]

I live in San Jose, just south of the area ref'd by the OP, and belong to the Nextdoor group for my neighborhood. It is like craigslist, message board, or Facebook group for a zip code or neighborhood. From what I read on that site, there is a strong negative perception of these RVers. I can't tell you how many posts I've read accusing the RVers of crimes like package theft or break ins (it's not them).

There are a lot of RVers in many parts of San Jose including neighborhoods like mine, parked in big box parking lots like Target and Home Depot, as well as an industrial area with some truly run down RVs. I bet I could find 100 in a 5 mi radius from my house.

Will Prowse (sp?) did a youtube video mentioning several areas and cities where he parks, surrounded by RVs.

I think "working poor" is probably a good guess on why they are living in RVs in neighborhoods near me. I've noticed this small, fiberglass class B in the parking lot of safeway for years. I figure he works there. I've also heard it is easier to get services/assistance in cities like SJ so maybe that's another reason.

 

[ZoNiE]

When I worked as a contractor at AMD in Sunnyvale, there were some employees living in their RV's in the parking lot during their shift (3/4 12 Hr shifts per week) and they did it because the 2+ hour commute each way to the affordable areas sucked. A couple of guys did it at Intel in Chandler AZ too.

 

[Souleem]

"The poors"? Really?

 

[John61CT]

"The poors"? Really?

Yes, used ironically non-disparaging, projecting the structural classism endemic to our society.

Cf. "brown people"

 

[Bud Smiley]

It's all over the area. I spend a lot of time near a large group in Milpitas. Very few of them are working regularly. If the RV is parked in a company parking lot, they're likely a worker just trying to avoid the commute or save some money. If they're parked on the street, they are usually down on their luck.

Just today I saw a fresh batch of bright orange notices on the windshields of the street parkers. I assume it's some sort of warning to move or get towed.

 

[lenny flank]

Rule Number One of urban camping: don't get noticed.