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Living in a Van

blog.priceonomics.com

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Re: Living in a Van

#71

Post by guelo »

larrys wrote: post #51
tptacek wrote: post #36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It is interesting also to note that the ability to lead any kind of normal or predictable life in this fashion is itself a privilege. People in the software business can get away with wearing the same clothes, coming in wrinkled, missing the occasional shower, and, for that matter, getting in a little later after having to move the van in the middle of the night. Our field is extremely accommodating. Put yourself in…

"Glib is the word I would use, for romanticizing a scenario" I would use glib in the same way that people romanticize people living in poverty. Particularly single moms with good kids living in the ghetto. Single mom works so hard holding down 3 jobs cleaning offices and her kids all work hard if only they were given a chance and didn't live in the projects. (Watch http://www.pruitt-igoe.com/ on netflix to see a litt…

I'm impressed that you're able to do a sociological study of "the others" as you drive through their neighborhoods, probably with your windows up and doors locked.

Non-snarkily, I think people are the same everywhere, mostly good and hard working with occasional cheating when they think they can get away with it. From my personal anecdata, I've seen both shady deplorable acts and admirable selfless acts from millionaires, middle class, working poor, and even from homeless people on the street.

I do think that the fact that poor people have to rely on help from their social network more often makes them more humble in general.

Re: Living in a Van

#72

Post by sukuriant »

sbochins wrote: post #65
patio11 wrote: post #15

This seems like a romantically bohemian way to approximate a pampered middle class kid's idea of how poor people live. If you want to save money, you can try what they actually do, which is move to a less desirable neighborhood and spend one third what you do on rent for an apartment. You live in a crazy expensive neck of the woods? Nice to meet you; I live in Japan, cry me a river. There's old folks on social securi…

I heard other people calling this lower class tourism, that doesn't really seem to be the case though. It seems like a perfectly reasonable way to live for a single guy w/ a day job or someone trying to build a company. I'm not single, but if I were I would like to try something similar. Right now, I'm renting out my entire condo. I would like to rent out everything besides the garage and just live in there. The reas…

As a single male, living in a van doesn't seem like it'd go very well with a nice lady-friend that I might wish to get to know better. Especially when she starts speaking with her mother about my living conditions.

That's just me, though. Perhaps I'm wrong here.

edit: I should probably clarify what I said. Living in a van, in my mind as an outside observer suggests either some sort of inability to commit, or perhaps falling on hard times, or someone who is dillusional about their circumstances; and, as an outside observer, speaks poorly of the person who is in this situation. What I was refering to with speaking to her mother -- though it truly could be any person that is a friend to your ladyfriend -- is this: This person is looking out for your ladyfriend, and when they hear such things as "he lives out of his car", and "oh, he doesn't have a home", or any other number of issues.

Re: Living in a Van

#74

Post by sukuriant »

salgernon wrote: post #13
sukuriant wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

When talking with a lamborghini dealer, I was informed that some exceptionally rich people will purchase one of those, keep it for 3 years, and then sell it back at a profit because they depreciate so slowly. I thought this was interesting.

Unless they just leave it parked, they are unlikely to recoup the cost of maintaining it over that time: http://www.secretentourage.com/lifestyle/autos/cost-of-owner... I was bit by this in my early 20s when I bought a really nice BMW, I hadn't considered that dealer servicing would end up costing so much. But I was so much older then, I'm younger than that now.

for what it's worth, dealer servicing is now free for 3 or so years on BMW's... makes that pain ... much more bearable.

Re: Living in a Van

#75

Post by larrys »

guelo wrote: post #71
larrys wrote: post #51

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"Glib is the word I would use, for romanticizing a scenario" I would use glib in the same way that people romanticize people living in poverty. Particularly single moms with good kids living in the ghetto. Single mom works so hard holding down 3 jobs cleaning offices and her kids all work hard if only they were given a chance and didn't live in the projects. (Watch http://www.pruitt-igoe.com/ on netflix to see a litt…

I'm impressed that you're able to do a sociological study of "the others" as you drive through their neighborhoods, probably with your windows up and doors locked. Non-snarkily, I think people are the same everywhere, mostly good and hard working with occasional cheating when they think they can get away with it. From my personal anecdata, I've seen both shady deplorable acts and admirable selfless acts from milliona…

"Non-snarkily, I think people are the same everywhere, mostly good and hard working"

If that is the case then why do I keep my windows up when I drive through those neighborhoods. Are you saying I have nothing to fear driving my new expensive car through, say, many areas of Newark NJ or areas such as the "Badlands" in Phila PA? Or that I am safe to walk the streets in those areas? And if those areas are so great and wonderful places to raise families why are the actual good hard working people that live there trying to get out to provide better for their children?

Re: Living in a Van

#76

Post by larrys »

Cass wrote: post #63
larrys wrote: post #33

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"is class disdain because I'm too well off to consider it or class disdain because when I wasn't well off we had too much pride to ever stoop to anything like that." Normally when you read stories about these outliers in life there is always a story behind it. I remember the case of the guy on the street corner who was discovered as having singing talent, made it to network news shows, was given some sort of leg up o…

So he's only playing his guitar because it's conveniently located in the same room, and you're only getting exercise because you have to walk to your printer sometimes. Setting up your living space so your surroundings encourage you to do things you feel you should be doing more seems like a sensible decision on both your parts.

"and you're only getting exercise because you have to walk to your printer sometimes."

Actually I've been running about 340 days per year for the last 14 years as well.

Re: Living in a Van

#77

Post by larrys »

pemulis wrote: post #57
larrys wrote: post #33

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"is class disdain because I'm too well off to consider it or class disdain because when I wasn't well off we had too much pride to ever stoop to anything like that." Normally when you read stories about these outliers in life there is always a story behind it. I remember the case of the guy on the street corner who was discovered as having singing talent, made it to network news shows, was given some sort of leg up o…

So we have someone who didn't play his guitar because it was in another room. And someone who spent 3 hours per day watching a sitcom on netflix. And you wonder why he is living in a van? Watching Netflix for a few hours in a row and having an instrument you don't play as much as you should are incredibly common experiences. I don't know how you extrapolate that into some sort of mental illness or moral failure that…

"I don't know how you extrapolate that into some sort of mental illness"

Where did I say that he had a mental illness?

Ask yourself this question. If you were on a job interview for a job where the employer was not desperate to fill that job with a "body", and you didn't have some super stupendous big deal advantage, or credentials, would you think that offering that anecdote reflected highly on you? Or do you think it portrays you a little like a slacker?

Re: Living in a Van

#78

Post by astine »

GFischer wrote: post #48
United857 wrote: post #24

This guy goes one step further; living in a Honda Civic: http://www.quora.com/Would-becoming-homeless-be-a-good-strat...

He's on HN and posted his link :) http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4617792

I have a friend who lived in a Honda Accord for three months. He says his goal was to save money but his friends (including myself) are convinced that he was just too lazy to look for an apartment.

Re: Living in a Van

#79

Post by dwiel »

pilom wrote: post #54
vijayr wrote: post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Wowwwww !! These look absolutely beautiful. But one still needs to own a piece of land. What would be interesting though, is a bunch of people buying a piece of land (sharing the land/electricity/water costs), and living in half a dozen of these on the land. Don't know about the legality of it, but it would be awesome

I think what you're recommending is called a trailer park. A trailer park with a very strict community guidelines.

kind of. A typical trailer park trailer is easily 800-1000 square feet compared to these which are 80-120 square feet. Similar relationship to neighbors though.

Im actually founding a community similar to this right now. We have2.25 acres of land, and each house can have no bigger than 400 square foot footprint (though can be 2 stories tall). Land not occupied by houses will be shared.

Re: Living in a Van

#80

Post by guelo »

larrys wrote: post #75
guelo wrote: post #71

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm impressed that you're able to do a sociological study of "the others" as you drive through their neighborhoods, probably with your windows up and doors locked. Non-snarkily, I think people are the same everywhere, mostly good and hard working with occasional cheating when they think they can get away with it. From my personal anecdata, I've seen both shady deplorable acts and admirable selfless acts from milliona…

"Non-snarkily, I think people are the same everywhere, mostly good and hard working" If that is the case then why do I keep my windows up when I drive through those neighborhoods. Are you saying I have nothing to fear driving my new expensive car through, say, many areas of Newark NJ or areas such as the "Badlands" in Phila PA? Or that I am safe to walk the streets in those areas? And if those areas are so great and…

I have no idea about those neighborhoods, but I've spent plenty of time in east Oakland without incident, statistically the 4th most dangerous city in the country. No matter how much crap you hear in the news it's not an actual war zone, most people lead normal day to day lives. From my experience people want to get out because the government services like schools and police suck, not because they hate their neighbors.
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