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I really hope that battery technology, EV technology, and self-driving technology lead to a tremendous boom in full-time RV / vanlife popularity and make it a b

I really hope that battery technology, EV technology, and self-driving technology lead to a tremendous boom in full-time RV / vanlife popularity and make it a better quality of life than traditional fixed housing and all the people who bought up housing as an investment vehicle see their money go poof. It's like using potable water or the air we breathe as an investment vehicle.

jollyllama 4y ago
You'd be surprised at how powerful squatters' rights are in most states.
idiotsecant 4y ago
Living in a van is only possible if a small percentage of people do it. The infrastructure for sewage, parking, trash disposal, utilities, etc are all designed to handle a bunch of houses that stay in one place.
- rngname22 4y ago
  These are all solvable problems.
dogman144 4y ago
I think it’s a legitimate counterpoint that could force some changes, but other aspects would have to go into it like intentional communities around this technology such that kids can go to schools, taxes are tenable, etc. interesting to consider. I think tax status assumptions and making van life work for a 2-child family are the main blockers. Starts sounding a lot like a high-end trailer park idea too.
- rngname22 4y ago
  The self-driving bit is what makes it tenable. All it takes is some people to offer parking a couple hours outside the city and for your home to drive itself out there when you go to sleep and drive you back to the city as you are getting close to waking up. Government prevents parking like that? Then just have the vehicle drive around aimlessly while you sleep or hang out, like a limousine. If energy were cheap enough, there'd be almost nothin you could to do stop it.
sillystuff 4y ago
> It's like using potable water or the air we breathe as an investment vehicle. This is already a very profitable investment. Of course, it can be made more profitable through monopoly through the process of enclosure (conversion of commons to private ownership). The private water companies have even had legislation passed that gives them exclusive rights to the rain falling on your roof so you cannot collect rain water to avoid paying parasitic rents. > ...a law was passed that appeared to give a monopoly to Aguas del Tunari over all water resources, including water used for irrigation, communal water systems and even rainwater collected on roofs.[68] Upon taking control the company raised water tariffs by 35%. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Water_privatization https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Water_privatization
mulmen 4y ago
Full time van life is unsustainable and selfish. The infrastructure does not and should not exist to make this feasible.
- rngname22 4y ago
  This is a thread about the wealthy investor class buying the literal land and shelter and hoarding it so they can profit off those they lease to. What was that you were saying about unsustainable and selfish? Fight selfish with selfish.
  - mulmen 4y ago
    Van life isn’t a scalable alternative to permanent housing. The reasons for this are many. One of the obvious ones is that if a wealthy investor class can buy up houses and extract rent they can certainly buy up vans and extract rent. So it isn’t even resistant to the very problem you suggest it can solve. Take a look at how much a 1980s VW Westfalia is these days. It’s as absurd as house prices.
    - istorical 4y ago
      Land in desirable areas seems to me to be a much more scarce resource than the inputs and labor that go into a vehicle, especially if you add time - aka decades to make such things cheaper. Not sure how time and technology can do the same for land ownership.
      - deleted 4y ago
        [deleted]
      - deleted 4y ago
        [deleted]
CatWChainsaw 4y ago
Would that really be a solution? We live in the "you will own nothing and be happy" timeline. I know I've read articles in the past that car manufacturers are considering turning to leasing agreements instead of purchases. That might be hard to get started in the US, but with the way every market turns to renterism, I would not be surprised if vehicles and RVs get swept up in the usury craze.

jollyllama 4y ago

You'd be surprised at how powerful squatters' rights are in most states.

idiotsecant 4y ago

Living in a van is only possible if a small percentage of people do it. The infrastructure for sewage, parking, trash disposal, utilities, etc are all designed to handle a bunch of houses that stay in one place.

rngname22 4y ago
These are all solvable problems.

dogman144 4y ago

I think it’s a legitimate counterpoint that could force some changes, but other aspects would have to go into it like intentional communities around this technology such that kids can go to schools, taxes are tenable, etc. interesting to consider. I think tax status assumptions and making van life work for a 2-child family are the main blockers. Starts sounding a lot like a high-end trailer park idea too.

rngname22 4y ago
The self-driving bit is what makes it tenable. All it takes is some people to offer parking a couple hours outside the city and for your home to drive itself out there when you go to sleep and drive you back to the city as you are getting close to waking up. Government prevents parking like that? Then just have the vehicle drive around aimlessly while you sleep or hang out, like a limousine. If energy were cheap enough, there'd be almost nothin you could to do stop it.

sillystuff 4y ago

> It's like using potable water or the air we breathe as an investment vehicle. This is already a very profitable investment. Of course, it can be made more profitable through monopoly through the process of enclosure (conversion of commons to private ownership). The private water companies have even had legislation passed that gives them exclusive rights to the rain falling on your roof so you cannot collect rain water to avoid paying parasitic rents. > ...a law was passed that appeared to give a monopoly to Aguas del Tunari over all water resources, including water used for irrigation, communal water systems and even rainwater collected on roofs.[68] Upon taking control the company raised water tariffs by 35%. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Water_privatization https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Water_privatization

mulmen 4y ago

Full time van life is unsustainable and selfish. The infrastructure does not and should not exist to make this feasible.

rngname22 4y ago
This is a thread about the wealthy investor class buying the literal land and shelter and hoarding it so they can profit off those they lease to. What was that you were saying about unsustainable and selfish? Fight selfish with selfish.
- mulmen 4y ago
  Van life isn’t a scalable alternative to permanent housing. The reasons for this are many. One of the obvious ones is that if a wealthy investor class can buy up houses and extract rent they can certainly buy up vans and extract rent. So it isn’t even resistant to the very problem you suggest it can solve. Take a look at how much a 1980s VW Westfalia is these days. It’s as absurd as house prices.
  - istorical 4y ago
    Land in desirable areas seems to me to be a much more scarce resource than the inputs and labor that go into a vehicle, especially if you add time - aka decades to make such things cheaper. Not sure how time and technology can do the same for land ownership.
    - deleted 4y ago
      [deleted]
    - deleted 4y ago
      [deleted]

CatWChainsaw 4y ago

Would that really be a solution? We live in the "you will own nothing and be happy" timeline. I know I've read articles in the past that car manufacturers are considering turning to leasing agreements instead of purchases. That might be hard to get started in the US, but with the way every market turns to renterism, I would not be surprised if vehicles and RVs get swept up in the usury craze.