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I wonder if this will effect van life. In some cities sleeping in your car is illegal even if in a valid parking spot minding your own business. Some places eve
by Keverw 7y ago
I wonder if this will effect van life. In some cities sleeping in your car is illegal even if in a valid parking spot minding your own business. Some places even illegal to take a break and sit on the ground. I think living in a van would be cramped, but maybe a RV would be nice but watched some of the van life channels and think it's insane sleeping in your van is a crime. I think some cops want to ID people who live different lifestyles because maybe they assume you are a criminal on the run for living in a van. But still insane you could go to jail or get your car impounded for sleeping in a parking spot... In some places sleeping on a bench too, putting people in Jail over sleeping which is a needed human function.
Then many states won't let you have a license if you are homeless, unless you get help from a shelter and also try to make it harder to vote too. So you have to pretend you live with a relative or go to Texas or South Dakota to setup a mail forwarder and declare domicile since they recognize full time RVing. Plus heard some shelters won't help you if you still own a car, got to sell it first to receive services.
I have heard though South Dakota only lets you vote for federal and state elections though, not local(city and county) but not sure how true that is... For example one of the counties doesn't have a "Wheel Tax", which would effect people registered there if ever passed, so RVers would vote no of course on it. Yet they say you can still be called for Jury Duty as mentioned on the affidavit, but heard the popular county for mail forwarders exempt those addresses, so you won't get picked in the first place but even if you do just call and tell them you are traveling full time to be exempted... But kinda interesting you are like a resident but not really a resident. I guess no states really considered people could retire and RV full time or younger people could live in a van and work remotely online.
I guess kinda the same with college though... If you lived in California but your parents retired early and moved to Florida or Nevada, yet you wanted to stay in California to go to school with your high school friends then California would consider you a resident for DMV, taxes but no longer a resident for tuition since they go by your parents domicile until a certain age, yet until after a full year or two FL or NV wouldn't consider you a resident for school either, so I guess you could technically not be a resident of any state for tuition proposes.
- throwawaysea 7y ago> In some cities sleeping in your car is illegal even if in a valid parking spot minding your own business. It should be illegal. Parking spaces are by and large meant to primarily serve the needs of legal, taxpaying residents. When they get taken over for use as housing, it diminishes the ability for others to travel and visit friends/family/businesses. And street parking is taken away from those who live locally who may need to park overnight. All this is still leaving aside the fact that it is super creepy to have someone living out of an RV on your block, watching everyone's arrival/departures, casing their joints. Especially because a number of these RV dwellers are permanently-nomadic drug-addicts who engage in property crime to fuel their habits. No thanks.
- city41 7y agoNowadays it's becoming more common to become homeless despite having a job, due to stagnant wages combined with no affordable housing. There are many documentaries on YouTube covering this phenomenon, such as this one from CBS: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U0HcIJpWMDk https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U0HcIJpWMDk, and this one from DW: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JHDkALRz5Rk https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JHDkALRz5Rk
- throwawaysea 7y agoWould you accept a compromise where affordable housing is subsidized if the person is a long-term tax-paying/law-abiding resident of that area (5+ years) but not otherwise? I think there has to be a disincentive for people to move to expensive and desirable locations like SF and expect to be able to make ends meet. If they're a newcomer to an area, they should know the costs and what it takes and bear the responsibility instead of imposing themselves upon existing residents IMO.
- city41 7y agoWhat you describe is essentially rent control. From what I understand (and I am far from an expert), most of these people have lived in SF/LA for a long time, surviving due to rent control. But it's greatly in the landlord's interest to get them to move out, and eventually it happens, and then they are stuck.
- samcheng 7y agoThe van life (well, mostly RV life) is really taking over Silicon Valley. Many streets now have a row of RVs parked at the curb. For example, El Camino right in front of Stanford. The wealth disparity is dramatic, but so is the rent in the area... Palo Alto tried to accommodate the RVs with a parking lot in the civic center, but stopped after a couple of incidents at the nearby school. Will RV/van parking become compulsory?