Urban Stealth Camping: What is possible and what is probable?

[citytravelfotos]

After seeing two threads here: &nbsp;"What Are The Consequences?" and "<a class="thread_title" style="color: #000000; text-decoration: none;" title="My van is a very clean Astro van that I always keep washed and waxed and I never keep junk in the front seat section. I have the inside of all the..." href="/post/Suspicious-Person-quotDo-you-live-in-this-neighborhoodquot-6039119" rel="nofollow">Suspicious Person: "Do you live in this neighborhood?"</a>" &nbsp;I've not felt so good about the whole urban stealth camping thing. &nbsp;<br><br>I'm a city photographer and I've been interested in stealth camping in big cities like Los Angeles and San Francisco. &nbsp;These cities are super expensive to live in, and I don't like to deal with roommates, so I've been looking at this alternative. &nbsp;I also intend to live in the highly urban areas, as i'm an urban person.<br><br>So, what is possible and what is probable in terms of urban stealth parking? &nbsp;In terms of the consequences. &nbsp; I've also seen that vans can be looked at with extra scrutiny. &nbsp;So are vans with high tops a bad idea? &nbsp;I'm trying to separate reality from possible paranoia or certain consequences that happened from not so careful people.

 

[peacetara]

I have experience with the Bay Area.&nbsp; I don't have any experience with LA at this point.<br><br>So San Francisco, parking is nearly impossible to find, and what parking you DO find, will have all sorts of restrictions on it, so finding reliable spots to park will be difficult, at the very least...&nbsp; This is true of most downtown areas in larger cities as well.<br><br>So, the best plan is to get out away from SF proper, and hang out in the rest of the bay area.&nbsp; Once you get out of SF proper, there is LOTS of available parking, that is free, legal (as far as parking anyways, but they may have laws about sleeping in vehicles, lots of places do now) and safe.<br><br>I've been all over the east bay and the south bay.&nbsp; It's all fine.&nbsp; I've found some places where you see travel trailers that look like they have been parked for months on the street, with people living in them all over the South Bay.<br><br>So it's totally possible, as long as you don't think you are going to sleep right next to Powell Street BART or something.<br><br>I've been in Portland, Seattle, Las Vegas, Salt Lake City, etc.&nbsp; The closer you get to their downtown area's the harder it is to find good spots to stay. I doubt LA or any other large city is any different.<br><br>So, realistically, as long as you don't try to camp out right downtown, and you move fairly often you should be fine.&nbsp; I'm sure there are exceptions and the rare nice spot in downtown, but unless you spend a lot of time and effort looking for them, I doubt they will just appear. Me, I'm way to lazy to work that hard, I don't like to stay in the big cities for very long when I *DO* end up in them, so I just find a good spot, and use public transit if I need to get into the downtown areas.<br><br>If you are looking for long-term, you might find a landowner that has a business that is worried about his stuff, and trade a spot to park for watching over the place.&nbsp; I know some people do things like that.<br><br>I hope you find successes, whatever you decide!<br><br>With Love,<br>Tara<br><br>

 

[citytravelfotos]

Just to be clear, I'm especially interested on what is probable and what is possible in terms of consequences. &nbsp;Los Angeles for instance has a ban on sleeping in a vehicle, but from what I know they can only get you if they can see you inside.

 

[Guest]

My biggest fear of travelling in the US is&nbsp;inadvertently&nbsp;breaking such a municipal law and finding myself detained and deported; heading down the highway in a bus bound for the border without my van and possessions.

 

[peacetara]

<p>Every city, county and state will be different I imagine, along with every Law Enforcement Officer(LE) in each of those locations.<br><br>I imagine if you get responses from 100 different people, you will get 100 different answers.<br><br>I don't have much experience with LE around van dwelling, but my experience with cops around homelessness, if they don't recognize you, and they are a decent cop/in a good mood, and you don't piss them off, then chances are they will just give you a warning, and ask you to wander on.&nbsp; Usually if you ask WHERE can I wander to, they will tell you.<br><br>If they recognize you, then chances are they will write you a ticket or put you up for the night (unfortunately not in a 4 star hotel! *pouts*).&nbsp; Some cities have really interesting rules around homelessness, like they can't write you a ticket *IF* the local shelters are full.&nbsp; So it's good to know what the local laws are in your area.&nbsp; *IF* you are in one of those towns and get a ticket, it would be really wise to check the status of the shelters as soon as possible, you may be able to get the ticket waived, which would be great!<br><br>But if they are in a foul mood, or they are just mean cops (which I personally think is RARE) then who knows what they might do.&nbsp; You never really know, the same as any new person you bump into, you never know if they will be nice, or mean, or just plain nasty.&nbsp; But I honestly think that most of LE that you run into will be a decent sort of person.<br><br>If you have no experience dealing with LE, then you may get lucky, and not run into any ever.<br><br>Anyways, I'm guessing you will get a million different answers from a million different people.<br><br>dfunkt: I imagine it will depend a lot on if you legally entered the country, and if you are still legal on the day they decide to arrest you. But this is true of any foreign country you visit, I don't think the US is alone in this issue.&nbsp; Luckily all of my visits to foreign countries so far has gone very well!&nbsp; I hope all of your foreign country visits are equally pleasant.<br><br>I don't know anything about LA's homelessness laws, I would suggest (since it sounds like you are in that area now) to go wander the streets and ask people what their experiences are, or connect with the local homeless shelters, they probably know how the local police tend to treat their local population(s).&nbsp; You could probably even call and/or stop by the local police and ask them (just say you are doing research for a fiction story you are writing or something if you want).<br><br>Anyways, I wish you lots of success if you choose to enter this life.<br><br>With Love,<br>Tara</p>

 

[citytravelfotos]

^ One reason I'm interested in this lifestyle is that a longtime friend of mine in L.A. is basically a vandweller, and he's not have a problem doing this for years. &nbsp;According to him, LAPD is too busy to care about going after people living in their vehicles. &nbsp;My concern has been because I desire a larger vehicle than him, that the necessity for stealth is a bigger deal for me.