Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Thank you all for the tips and advice - I appreciate it.
Here's my summary:
- That price point can only get a very unsafe/unhealthy/unusable RV to live in.
- water leaks, hidden mold, gasoline leaks, and propane leaks, the wiring is worn out/short circuited (fire hazard).
- some will lead to problems with the city too (i.e. sewage leak, etc).
- Residents will very likely call the cops and he will have to keep moving.
- The car has to really move or else it will be towed.
- Insurance is not going to be cheap.
- Without a driving license, insurance is not possible (his got suspended because of unpaid fines).
It is basically a recipe for trouble from people with experience working with people in similar situations.
We should focus on working a shelter or a program in hopes there is a solution...
Thank you all for the tips and advice - I appreciate it.
Here's my summary:
- That price point can only get a very unsafe/unhealthy/unusable RV to live in.
- water leaks, hidden mold, gasoline leaks, and propane leaks, the wiring is worn out/short circuited (fire hazard).
- some will lead to problems with the city too (i.e. sewage leak, etc).
- Residents will very likely call the cops and he will have to keep moving.
- The car has to really move or else it will be towed.
- Insurance is not going to be cheap.
- Without a driving license, insurance is not possible (his got suspended because of unpaid fines).
It is basically a recipe for trouble from people with experience working with people in similar situations.
We should focus on working a shelter or a program in hopes there is a solution...
(yes, Seattle has become so expensive )
Sums it up.
But the truth is, with his problems, this wouldn't work even in a less expensive city. With no reliable income, and with his other issues, he can't own, operate, and maintain a vehicle.
Location: We_tside PNW (Columbia Gorge) / CO / SA TX / Thailand
34,744 posts, read 58,090,525 times
Reputation: 46231
Quote:
Originally Posted by blueherons
If there was an RV with someone living in it outside my house, you can bet I'm calling the cops.
You just can't park an RV in a residential area without raising red flags.
But you obviously don't live in Seattle. Fairly common in Seattle and Portland. And legal too. Few yrs ago Portland mayor offered free camping in parks for homeless and their population exploded. Some parks in high end neighborhoods were completely surrounded by derelict motorhomes, and the parks full of tents.
I have seen over 60 homeless tents in a freeway cloverleaf (and Portland gave the homeless 'Dignity Village' nearly 20 yrs ago. Since it is self governed by the homeless, they are very picky who they allow in.!)
Seattle has a homeless RV program, but allowable parking areas change every day. That won't work for someone without a driver's license.
Many of these RVs get towed and are sold at auction (to the next homeless person). Correct that they are expensive to clean out and sell for scrap. I was attending the abandoned vehicle auction (600 cars sold every week). I got many for minimum bid of $35 each, including my 50mpg daily driver. RVs and buses usually sell for $200-$300. Highest prices are for those with current license plates. Oregon offers 2yr plates, that extra yr adds $100 to the bids at auction, as buyer will not register it and use the plates till they expire, then let it get ticketed until towed, then go buy it back at auction for a fraction of tow bill. (Or preferably a different one with unexpired plates.)
There is an epidemic of RV homeless in much of USA. apparently not Florida. Where I am at the moment, most of the homeless use cars for camping. Pretty popular in SW USA.
We don't see any homeless in RV's in the Mid South.
They cannot afford tow vehicles, even if they did have a drivers license.
I used to visit a cousin in El Segundo. Every morning, a kid living in front of his house in a Class C would come in and take a shower before going to high school. That's just no way to live.
Location: We_tside PNW (Columbia Gorge) / CO / SA TX / Thailand
34,744 posts, read 58,090,525 times
Reputation: 46231
Quote:
Originally Posted by Bamaman1
...Every morning, a kid living in front of his house in a Class C would come in and take a shower before going to high school. That's just no way to live.
I was that kid ~ 50 yrs ago...
Kicked out of the house @16 (mutual).
Bought a 1950 Dodge pickup with a plywood canopy. That was home ($35)
Worked 3 jobs, last one was 2AM -6AM, then would sleep in school parking lot and take a shower in the locker room. (good to have because I smelt like beer...) 3rd job was janitor at a dog racing track, sweeping up race tickets and lots of spilled beer. By noon I was done with school and back at another job. (good training for what was to happen the day I turned 18 (fully responsible for a disabled parent)).
Class C would have been a dream!, but my pickup was fine, and very dependable in snowy Colorado.
But, I admire alternative housing. Our attitudes towards where we live and what we live in, greatly contributes to housing prices unnecessarily going far into the stratosphere and leading to such problems as this.
In my early 20's, I seriously considered a travel trailer to live in full time, just moving from place to place finding work wherever it could be found.
Don't remember exactly why that didn't work out.
Knowing what I know now about the world and having some travel-trailer experience under my belt, it might be a good idea for young people but only if they're so inclined. You do need to know how to fix things and take care of yourself.
The stereotypical American dream isn't for everyone. I force myself into it, but it's hard sometimes.
For the sake of the original issue, I think it's estimated that one million people in this country live in RV's full time. Most of them wouldn't consider themselves "homeless". It's still a house with all the fixin's. It just happens to roll. I greatly respect the lifestyle.
In order to stay in one area like Seattle, one would need to be clever and possibly stealthy. Get a driver's license for sure, and maybe a van that's been fixed up, or do it themselves. Staying in one, big, expensive city probably isn't the best idea.
In my early 20's, I seriously considered a travel trailer to live in full time, just moving from place to place finding work wherever it could be found.
Don't remember exactly why that didn't work out.
Knowing what I know now about the world and having some travel-trailer experience under my belt, it might be a good idea for young people but only if they're so inclined. You do need to know how to fix things and take care of yourself.
The stereotypical American dream isn't for everyone. I force myself into it, but it's hard sometimes.
In order to stay in one area like Seattle, one would need to be clever and possibly stealthy. Get a driver's license for sure, and maybe a van that's been fixed up, or do it themselves. Staying in one, big, expensive city probably isn't the best idea.
Friend of mine (female) is raising two of her five kids in a so-called tinyhome, one step from a fifth wheeler. She's intelligent and resourceful, and planned it out. I helped, but she's more mechanically inclined than me and figured out what she wanted. She bought a half-done shell, then completed the rest in about six months. Couple years on, it's 100%
This is a person who is gainfully employed, with certain skills (child care) and as-mentioned resourcefulness and drive to succeed. She pulls in maybe $65K/year, but it depends year over year. There is never-ending work in her area, fortunately.
I've been to her tinyhome, it's small and cozy though not quite claustrophobic. With two boys, now (about) 9 and 16 or so, well, there are problems. One just stays away, working what hours he can. The younger is a screw-up, but that's to be expected in a fatherless home where the father is a POS and seldom if-ever part of the "solution."
She lives in a stealthy "trailer park" that is well-guarded by the owners, out near North Bend which is a heckuva lot wilder than Seattle and/or Eastside, but does qualify as "east of Seattle" for-sure. So close to the Cascades the climate is different, it snows like hell out there. I've seen the units in the park, none are inhabited by crack heads, dirt bags, outlaw bikers, bums/vagrants, losers, or zeros. The owners allow in working people, single people, the clean and quiet, retirees, recluses who keep their area tidy. They are adamant about keeping their park clean and quiet. My friend's tinyhome fits in great, in the back, and won't be moving any time soon (though that is an option!). Some day, she may buy land and park it there as a permanent structure, which is entirely do-able.
Everything I've described above was an informed, careful decision by a professional person without much resources but definitely with 1) brains 2) wisdom 3) determination 4) the ability to put ten thousand bucks together after sale of her prior home. Bums, vagrants, "can't hold a job" and other zeros not welcome, that's a BS way to go through life and "work camp" is probably best solution: one with no or low walls, offering barracks living for labor on a potato or similar kind of farm. Here in WA, that would be picking fruit. Stay, go, your choice but vagrancy will NOT be tolerated.
We're not there yet, as a society. Hopefully, we will be soon to clean up the streets.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
)
