Urban stealth "camping" questions & fears.

[Jack Grit]

I wrote a long – almost short story - post, then thought no one here really knows me yet, so I figured I'd write a short post and add info along the way if anyone responded and if/when warranted. <br><p>OK, to make a long story short I probably need to stay in and around the SF Bay Area for various reasons. In time I want to head out to BLM land on and off and also take long trips to visit family and explore the world but I am no where near prepared for that at this point.</p><p>If I fork the coin for a van and find out that it just wont work in the Bay Area than I may lose a good chunk of change if I need to sell the van. I have been staying in my 1983 Mercedes for about 7 weeks. It's getting quite cramped and chaotic and frankly just isn’t working out for my situation. If I buy a van I will probably have to sell the Mercedes (don't have a place to put it on non-op status).</p><p>Another question is if the p'stb find out I'm living in my Van and they tell me to move on do they keep a record in each city or county or do they only keep records if you are are actually cited? I'm pretty street savvy and have decent intuition but there are no guarantees I wont be “found out”.</p><p>I've read relatively extensively on the subject of urban stealth camping but there are some things I just can't find any material on.</p><p>The two places I want to stay are a big city in the East Bay and a big city in the North Bay. I got rousted out of a smallish town in Sonoma county but my funky Mercedes stuck out like a sore thumb. Dents, missing chrome, etc. In retrospect I basically was inviting trouble. I am a newbie and the town is quite liberal so I pressed my luck. Oops<img src="/images/boards/smilies/sneaky.gif" class="emoticon bbc_img">. The experience was quite sobering and no fun, to say the least.&nbsp;<br><br>Thanks.<br><br>~J Grit</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>&nbsp;</p>

 

[VanLifeCrisis]

I think there is only a record kept of citations or official warnings (you get a copy in either case).<br><br><br>Good luck, i have read that SF area is rough on vandwellers...

 

[PYSCHOWard]

I always try to blend into the environment, do your research for the area you want to stay in.

 

[MK7]

get a minivan, keep it clean and plenty of touch up paint. nobody wants a POS parked all over their neighborhood and especially in front of their house. they can tell someone's living in it....not as much with a van with its windows blacked out.

 

[Blue]

Agreeing with MK7,

I'd also say, assuming your spending some funds to build for stealth, to avoid the stuff that puts a giant target on your vehicle for harassment, like propane tanks with connectors visible under the vehicle, battery vents /shore power/ water hookups on the outside of the vehicle... you want your stealthmobile to park on any street and draw 0 attention, even under scrutiny.

Where and when to park is a chapter in and of itself. Generally I go for private property where many vehicles are left overnight, mostly movie theater, box store, and mall parking lots (and no, I havent been hassled by mall security etc, they seem to be oblivious.) Private property also keeps the cops away generally (unless somebody calls them on you, and that only happens if you break the first and second rules of stealth vandwelling... those being dont let anybody figure out your vandwelling and DONT LET ANYBODY FIGURE OUT YOUR VANDWELLING.)

 

[Donedirtcheap]

Cops are like anybody else, they go to work everyday and remember what happened yesterday and last week. If they pop you and a night or two late they see you again or even a month later they will remember you. They aren't picking on you, but they already told you so now its like you are flipping them off by continuing. I think Blue has it right. You want a system that works without pooping in your nest from the get go.

 

[Lucky mike]

I am one for blending in....(of course you should try it in a motorhome..LOL) I have done the van dwelling....car camping even did the motorcycle/sleeping bag thing!!!

what I have found....
park in high turnover traffic areas.....if your planning on staying around awhile , scope out several different places and change up frequently...Walmart , home depot, malls are good but you also will stand out quickly......in at 7pm out at 7am is my rule........I actually pick up around the parking lot and bag it up.......the cameras see you and so dont the people watching it!......all of the sudden you become an asset! just dont abuse it.....a couple days here and there , they get trash cleaned up and you get a hasle free roost!!

 

[Donedirtcheap]

I am one for blending in....(of course you should try it in a motorhome..LOL) I have done the van dwelling....car camping even did the motorcycle/sleeping bag thing!!!

what I have found....
park in high turnover traffic areas.....if your planning on staying around awhile , scope out several different places and change up frequently...Walmart , home depot, malls are good but you also will stand out quickly......in at 7pm out at 7am is my rule........I actually pick up around the parking lot and bag it up.......the cameras see you and so dont the people watching it!......all of the sudden you become an asset! just dont abuse it.....a couple days here and there , they get trash cleaned up and you get a hasle free roost!!

There you go. Give more than you take. Mike, they want people like YOU to come back. Very positive for all.

 

[hippiechk]

Hi;

I've done more than my share of stealth sleeping over the years without having one bad incident to report. Now that said I have usually been traveling through and a single night anywhere when you keep your unit decent looking is cool most anywhere.

Having to maintain yourself in the Bay areas indefinitely sounds a lot harder! I would have to agree with a previous poster about going the mini-van route and keep it tidy. There are a dozen minis in practically every parking lot. Do try to stick with 24 hour places and park with the masses as opposed to picking a quiet corner because you can bet on the fact that the local authorities do know what vehicles are regulars.

Good luck with whatever you decide and let us know how its going for you...we are a herd of curious minds who do want to know???

 

[caseyc]

For those who are urban stealth camping in major cities, please do us all a favor by regularly moving to another different parking spot at least a few blocks away or farther. Don't simply stay put for a week or two at a time. This is what irks the neighbors. This is the reason neighbors complain and those vehicles end up getting warning notices plastered on their windshield, parking tickets, even the Denver boot lock. Seriously, don't just let your "oversized" vehicle stay put in one spot for too long. It's better to regularly park at a different spot every 2 to 3 days, heck, even every day if you're able to. Just the other day, I saw an RV parked on a city street with 2 wood planks resting below one of the wheels to even out the rig. Seriously?! Parking on 2 planks to even out on a city street? That city street is not a camp site in a rural park. I'll give that RV the benefit of the doubt. As long as that RV is moving to a different parking spot very regularly and often, then I might even think to myself that the wood planks are okay. But if parking for more than a few days at a time, that would be stretching it. Just my opinion of course.

---

This is the reason that city supervisors keep clamping down with new and stricter parking laws related to their definition of "oversized vehicles". I actually saw a street sign posted recently to specify that an oversized vehicle is considered to be taller than 7 feet and longer than 22 feet. As such, those oversized vehicles cannot park on certain streets and neighbors during certain hours of the night or day. This is what I mean by neighbors getting irked and banning together to complain to city supervisors to make it tougher for such vehicles to park. This in turn makes it harder on all of us. This can only get worse in the future, not better. Just my opinion of course.

 

[MK7]

How about inside or around apartment complexes? Most of them don't have permit stickers and visitors park on the streets surrounding them.

 

[Lucky mike]

I see this in Walmarts alot....RV's leveled on blocks ,slides out and disconnected from there tow vehicle days at a time ....or set up awnings and BBQ's set up and they wonder why all of the sudden they are unwelcome!

sometimes Im guilty ,I try to park level side to side and deploy the front leveler to square it up....but I live by a rule of in at sunset and out just after sunrise.....there are city parks and other tourist type areas that give me better parking during the day....camping out in one spot tends to make others wonder why and just creates problems!

I keep the RV waxed and clean so as to not draw to much attention to it ...( its hard to hide it ).......Ihave found that in empty lots in an emergency I have 2 giant for sale signs....I just put a real high price on them with my Cell number....put them in the front windows and draw the front shade......Ta Da urban stealth camouflage Kit!!!.....it also helps I have Handicap tags..so it helps with preferred parking in a pinch!!

 

[David]

A few tips I picked up on over the summer. Hotels often have open wifi and you can even get away with stealth camping in their parking lots if you are smart about it.

You can also go un-noticed at truck stops if you are close to a busy truck route although this tends to be a bit noisy option.

Another spot, is if you live somewhat close to a big city, you likely will find what are called "Park & Rides". It's random parking lots for people that car pool. You can pretty easily get away with parking at these on a regular basis, because cops get used to seeing the same cars there often. Meaning if you keep a regular attendance at the same one at over night hours most people cops included will just assuming you work in the city on the night shift and car pool.

 

[Blue]

MK7- even the apartment and mobile home parks (dont forget those!) that require stickers often have many visitor spaces that dont require the stickers, often in the far back of the complexes... perfect, heh and some even have free wi-fi from the meeting room or office not to mention in a big apartment complex somebody will often run unsecured or 1234 password etc.

David- yeah hotels are awesome, there are even more um... strategies to use with them but I dont want to post them here. I also like Denny's parking lots, often right near the hotels, and offer free wi-fi, and nobody thinks its weird if your parked all night there.

 

[Patrick46]

Yeah, I'm with Blue....most of those "all-night family restaurants" work well.

Denny's, Perkin's, I-Hops, and the like. I don't think I'd stay more than 1 night as these ARE places LEO's frequent.

Altho I've never tried 'em personally, I don't know why 24hr laundrymats wouldn't work well in a pinch too.

 

[Blue]

I've done the laundry mats, work ok, as do donut shops (LEOs frequent them less than ya'd think) 711s, circle K, and gas stations though... lots of LEO traffic from what I've seen and there are often panhandlers and other unsavory types around them.

but definatly stay away from parks... man Leo loves em, loves to ticket people in em, though sometimes you can find a private (non-city, non-patrolled) park in an large apartment complex etc. those can work.

 

[MK7]

but definatly stay away from parks... man Leo loves em, loves to ticket people in em, though sometimes you can find a private (non-city, non-patrolled) park in an large apartment complex etc. those can work.

I bet it depends on the area. Like in bad neighborhoods, there are drug transactions and usage there. And I hope all the jokes in movies about dudes trying to pickup other dudes there aren't true. But in a decent area, I think you're OK if you look presentable. Even if you setup a lawn chair, cooler, etc. Just don't look suspicious and don't hang to close to children playing at the playground.

 

[Blue]

about that, um... I prefer the ones that have automatic gates... um... yeah...

 

[caseyc]

My opinion on parking at an apartment complex...don't do it. Bad idea.

 

[Lucky mike]

simple thought while parking.......Big Brother is now watching (cameras are in most parking lots now...and can be used as evidence).......most if not all states have criminal trespass laws.......whether you see the sign or not it can and will create problems.


that being said....Im just preaching , I just park anywhere and play S t u p i d when I get Caught!!!