Vancouver Van Dwellers' Nomadic Lives

[Dino]

Interesting article from Huffpost on Vancouver residents trying to avoid ridiculous rent and real estate prices. With a mild climate it makes for a great opportunity for van dwellers. Lots of photos....

Mathew Arthur ditched a renovated laneway house he shared with his two brothers to live in a cheap 45-sq. foot 1987 Dodge Ram Prospector for the next year. He's part of the growing "van dweller" community in Vancouver, where sky-high housing costs have forced many to get creative.

The contemporary nomadic community describes itself as an "island of misfits, a family, a tribe" on a popular Yahoo! forum. Some have embraced mobile living out of necessity, while others like Arthur are doing it to challenge themselves.






http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2013/01/27/mobile-living-vancouver-van-dwellers-housing_n_2560651.html

 

[Blue]

yeah and tons and tons of meth... had a buddy who lived there said they once broke into his car AFTER his radio had already been stolen the week before, and there was nothing else inside, he couldent stand it.

 

[One Awesome Inch]

That experiment with Mathew Arthur ended without resolve from what I can tell. I read his blog and suddenly he just stopped. I think he queitly gave up on the idea. I could be wrong about that though.

I live in the same city and would be interested in reading that yahoo group.

Any links?

 

[Duck]

Interesting that they picked a totally non-nomadic vandweller for the article. Paying for a parking space @ 200$/mo, plus insurance at 120$+/mo and you're getting pretty close to the costs of renting a room somewhere(cheapest SROs are about 400$, but come with bed bugs and other issues).
Is there a name for that for vandwellers, in boats there are sneakaboards(living under the radar in the marinas) and anchor-outs(living disconnected from the grid out at anchor).

I am not sure if he quietly gave up, or realized that being quieter was a better idea, especially as regards to location. Unwanted attention can be an issue too.

 

[One Awesome Inch]

From what i read he was uncomfortably cold with no insulation and a small space heater. Probably could have lived better with a bit more effort.

 

[GrayWhale]

Interesting that they picked a totally non-nomadic vandweller for the article. Paying for a parking space @ 200$/mo, plus insurance at 120$+/mo and you're getting pretty close to the costs of renting a room somewhere(cheapest SROs are about 400$,

Isn't Vancouver major metropolitan city? This would explain the high car insurance for his beat up old car and he probably has tickets on his license. And where he's parking for $200/month; it should be less if you factor in that he doesn't need to spend gas money ($5-6/gal) moving around and searching for different spots every night. Staying in the same spot every night should be much safer and less to no chances of cops waking him up. Then there are the chances of getting ticketed and towed. A one time tow in a big city would be very costly.

The cost of moving your van every morning and then go to one of the sleeping spots late at night should run him at least $100/month in gas alone. I wonder if this would be a good idea for vandwellers who are staying in one town for work to rent a place to park or even trade for light security of the place, resident or business.

 

[flying kurbmaster]

Vancouver has a great system of back alleys most neighborhoods have car parking and garages in back alleys which makes renting a driveway or carport in a back alley fairly easy I would think. If I boondocked in Vancouver this is what I would be looking for. Run an extension cord from the house, to keep you warm, Rents are high so 200 a month would be a bargain if you were close to downtown.