4 ms·

The article mentions that it's illegal. Is that enforced? How would they know you're living in the RV? Do you have to move the RV every day because of parking r

The article mentions that it's illegal. Is that enforced? How would they know you're living in the RV? Do you have to move the RV every day because of parking rules? I'm wondering why nobody does this in NYC (at least, that I know of.)

ams6110 13y ago
NYC can get really cold in the winter. RVs are not really well insulated; they're designed to be used in the summer; few people go camping in the winter. It would be expensive to heat at best, or you'd have to add a lot of insulation.
- VLM 13y ago
  Most traditional RVs or even conversion vans like the rialto have more or less uninsulated plumbing which will be destroyed the moment it goes below freezing unless you winterize which is a huge pain, or have the plumbing removed or convert a van yourself and simply never install A minimal van conversion probably consists of little more than blackout curtains and a sleeping bag... If you're willing not to have plumbing, you could probably buy a conversion van without working plumbing fairly cheap. Much as houses with destroyed plumbing tend to go pretty cheap. As a homeowner with occasional $400 heating bills in the frozen north I disagree with expensive to heat. RVs, especially conversion vans, are small vehicles. My parent's RV furnace literally physically could not burn $400 of propane in its furnace per month if it ran 24x7, which of course it doesn't. This is a solved problem in the frozen north because of two hobbies probably not very popular amongst the most urban SF residents... deer hunting and snowmobiling. RVs get quite a bit of use indeed for those activities (I don't personally do either, but I do enjoy snow shoeing and there's nothing better than a RV at the end of the trail). Its much colder than NYC where the locals use RVs, its really no big deal. Another interesting point is if rent costs $3000/mo in Manhattan, you need to calculate how much propane you can burn to meet $3000/mo... I think you'll rapidly determine you could live inside an operating (small) rocket engine for $100 of propane per night. The primary insulation problem is sound insulation not so much heat insulation.
joe_the_user 13y ago
If you park the vehicle on the street and the police have decided they want crack down on "vehicular housing" in an area, they will ticket or arrest people for being inside their RVs at night. The police won't usually break into the vehicle but will bang the vehicle and shine light into them to force people out. I suspect that the West Coast's mild weather makes it much easier to live in an RV here. On the other hand, people are probably doing in NYC. Most people who do this aren't young professionals and keep the lowest possible profile. It seems like the housing crunch and the recession have made police a bit more tolerant of vehicle living too.
ry0ohki 13y ago
Parking is super expensive and hard to find in NYC.
- ganeumann 13y ago
  It's free to park on the street in most of NYC. And, with alternate side of the street rules, spaces open up every couple of days. You just need to be there when the street-sweeper goes by so you can grab one.

ams6110 13y ago

NYC can get really cold in the winter. RVs are not really well insulated; they're designed to be used in the summer; few people go camping in the winter. It would be expensive to heat at best, or you'd have to add a lot of insulation.

VLM 13y ago
Most traditional RVs or even conversion vans like the rialto have more or less uninsulated plumbing which will be destroyed the moment it goes below freezing unless you winterize which is a huge pain, or have the plumbing removed or convert a van yourself and simply never install A minimal van conversion probably consists of little more than blackout curtains and a sleeping bag... If you're willing not to have plumbing, you could probably buy a conversion van without working plumbing fairly cheap. Much as houses with destroyed plumbing tend to go pretty cheap. As a homeowner with occasional $400 heating bills in the frozen north I disagree with expensive to heat. RVs, especially conversion vans, are small vehicles. My parent's RV furnace literally physically could not burn $400 of propane in its furnace per month if it ran 24x7, which of course it doesn't. This is a solved problem in the frozen north because of two hobbies probably not very popular amongst the most urban SF residents... deer hunting and snowmobiling. RVs get quite a bit of use indeed for those activities (I don't personally do either, but I do enjoy snow shoeing and there's nothing better than a RV at the end of the trail). Its much colder than NYC where the locals use RVs, its really no big deal. Another interesting point is if rent costs $3000/mo in Manhattan, you need to calculate how much propane you can burn to meet $3000/mo... I think you'll rapidly determine you could live inside an operating (small) rocket engine for $100 of propane per night. The primary insulation problem is sound insulation not so much heat insulation.

joe_the_user 13y ago

If you park the vehicle on the street and the police have decided they want crack down on "vehicular housing" in an area, they will ticket or arrest people for being inside their RVs at night. The police won't usually break into the vehicle but will bang the vehicle and shine light into them to force people out. I suspect that the West Coast's mild weather makes it much easier to live in an RV here. On the other hand, people are probably doing in NYC. Most people who do this aren't young professionals and keep the lowest possible profile. It seems like the housing crunch and the recession have made police a bit more tolerant of vehicle living too.

ry0ohki 13y ago

Parking is super expensive and hard to find in NYC.

ganeumann 13y ago
It's free to park on the street in most of NYC. And, with alternate side of the street rules, spaces open up every couple of days. You just need to be there when the street-sweeper goes by so you can grab one.