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Meet the American Nomads of Walmart's Plentiful Parking Lots

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Re: Meet the American Nomads of Walmart's Plentiful Parking Lots

#31

Post by dinkumthinkum »

recuter wrote: post #7
austenallred wrote: post #3

I lived in my car for three months this summer in Palo Alto as we were getting a startup off the ground, then when I headed back toward the Valley a few weeks ago for startup school I decided to relive it all again - from sleeping in my car to showering at the YMCA. On the drive over from Utah I stopped in Elko, Nevada to sleep for the night, and as I had before I found my "spot" in Palo Alto, I drove off into a less…

I'm not from the US but I plan on doing a cross country adventure at some point. Let me ask you this; If my vehicle of choice was a delivery van of recent vintage with an artistic decal of a well known soda brand, would that help with avoiding such encounters? At worst I could claim to be an Andy Warhol fan, would that fly?

Honestly, that would not deter meaning from thinking you might be an eccentric meth head or worse, maybe even bolster the perception.

Re: Meet the American Nomads of Walmart's Plentiful Parking Lots

#32

Post by 001sky »

dcposch wrote: post #11

In 2001/02, my family spent two years travelling around North America. All four of us lived in a bus-style Monaco RV. Instead of middle school, I was home-schooled by my mom. We drove as far north as Alaska and as far south as Belize and had adventures---it was a great time. I just wanted to say: Walmart deserves credit for being very cool toward travellers. We spent many nights parked for free in their truck spots.…

I see Walmart as basic infrastructure. Exactly. Its a like a fuel/food and gear depot. Best part is they all have identical layouts. You can shop 125k sq ft and find everything right in its place =D.

Re: Meet the American Nomads of Walmart's Plentiful Parking Lots

#33

Post by 001sky »

aioprisan wrote: post #29
mistermann wrote: post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

ploy noun 1. a cunning plan or action designed to turn a situation to one's own advantage. cunning adjective 1. having or showing skill in achieving one's ends by deceit or evasion. Does Walmart have to be considered evil in literally every action? I'd fully expect they're hoping they will make some additional sales from overnight campers, I can't imagine this wouldn't be fairly obvious to any non-cynical observer of…

Oh I wasn't saying that it's not a win-win situation, just that some of the comments were saying how Walmart was being generous and good, while a pretty simple benefit analysis tells us that Walmart is making real money off of this, which in the case of such a big player and their history as an employer, self-interest is the only driver that counts.

Walmart's biz model is to be open 24 hours. Its stupid to kick out people in the middle of the night who are going be be shopping during the off hours period. People sleeping in a walmart PL are not there taking up space in isle 7 during rush hour shopping hours. So, from that point, its a ratinal thing to do. But also from a cultural point of view, its more common than you think, in remote areas, to need to come in to resupply (with say camping gear, food, clothes, etc). And if Wally world can save these people (like hunters, campers etc) 100 bucks for a hotel, they're probably going to increase the chances of them spending that 100 bucks inside.

Re: Meet the American Nomads of Walmart's Plentiful Parking Lots

#34

Post by code_duck »

I've slept in Walmart parking lots more than a few times on my extensive road travels. There are few choices for brief naps out on the road, and while still somewhat dicey Walmart is safer than rest stops or random roadsides. If it's after 4 am, hotels won't even rent you a room (too close to checkout time, they say. And why can't they just let you check out at say, 6? Or a steady 15 hours after checkin?).

Re: Meet the American Nomads of Walmart's Plentiful Parking Lots

#35

Post by code_duck »

protomyth wrote: post #16
rjbond3rd wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> many of which would otherwise be on welfare I get what you're saying, but Walmart employment is (alas) very compatible with being a welfare recipient, and rather than preventing welfare, Walmart is actually subsidized by it (at least according to a recently popular theory).

The local Walmart pays better than the local grocery store or any of the small businesses on main street. There is a reason that so many apply.

Sure, now that Walmart has crushed those businesses, it can afford to pay a little more than they can.

Re: Meet the American Nomads of Walmart's Plentiful Parking Lots

#36

Post by jmerton »

I'm an engineering tech (land development) who lost nearly everything in the crash. I "lived" (slept) in my truck, which has a custom cap made for the purpose, for four months this spring. It's not a cheap way to live. It takes fuel to get food, to take a morning dump, to go to a place to park for the night. If you're not somewhere you can cook, you're stuck with carry out. Still, it was an experience I in no way regret. I learned a lot about myself, which, for me, is a spiritual thing. (See other comment about "Sleeping the American Dream). Here are some tips: Pennsylvania numbered roads (PA & US) all have pull-over spots; I was never once harassed by the police in these places. The Potomac River, due to the National Park proximity, is absolutely to be avoided. Interstate rest stops are only good for one night at a time. There are also what I call "late in - early out" spots everywhere: bars with off-street parking, hotel lots, repair garages, state forests with hunters parking. A little imagination will give you other ideas. I've over-stayed my welcome with a friend (while I developed an idea that I could not seem to market successfully.) and will be back to daily pay ($42 a day) and sleeping in my truck for the winter. Its not really that bad. It can actually be an adventure at times; it all depends on your attitude.

Re: Meet the American Nomads of Walmart's Plentiful Parking Lots

#37

Post by VLM »

pdelbarba wrote: post #2

This article doesn't seem to cover much but I'd be curious to know the implications of this. Is this very common? How long do people stay? Are these people making trips or living there? I've heard a lot about crime occurring in Walmart parking lots, does this have any effect?

"I've heard a lot about crime occurring in Walmart parking lots, does this have any effect?"

My parents RVed around the country when they semi-retired and occasionally got stuck at walmart (Reservations? Sir I am sorry but I have no record of you ever having made reservations... etc)

Real criminals like empty lots and good numerical odds, so its extremely dangerous to be in a deserted shopping mall lot completely alone except for the crooks at 3am, or at a park all alone, or anything like that. Its not just walmart, some campgrounds are pretty sketchy during the empty work week. On the other hand trivial "crime" is much worse at walmart if by crime you mean "turned the radio up a little too loud at 8pm to cover sound of having sex" which might technically be a noise violation, but its not exactly armed carjacking or murder.

RVers talk a lot to other RVers and from what I heard from my parents, the culture is very bovine, stay in the herd for safety. The more people in the lot sleeping, the safer the lot is by definition. You have to have serious guts, or be a police sting, to be the only vehicle in the lot.

I would imagine the homeless are about the same. They want/need a good nights sleep and a screaming crime victim is not going to help them sleep, so there's more than a little self policing. There's ten guys here sleeping every night, and tonight there's one outsider checking door handles and prowling, well, there's going to be ten really pissed off guys if the interloper succeeds, so you do the math on what happens to the one interloper...

There is also a lot of bias in that RV national park touring means visiting civilized rural areas not uncivilized urban areas. So that means a lot of hunters and concealed carry and an armed society is a polite society and all that stuff. So a rural Idaho walmart parking lot where 10% of the people carry is likely near infinitely safer than a Chicago walmart in the bad part of town where all the victims are disarmed. As such my parents experience visiting national and state parks may not be representative of urban ghetto walmart parking lots. The experience of a cow herd in the presence of wolves varies greatly if some random selection of the cows have razor sharp teeth and pointy horns vs a herd where everybody knows all the cows are completely defenseless so go have as much "fun" as you want.

Re: Meet the American Nomads of Walmart's Plentiful Parking Lots

#38

Post by VLM »

recuter wrote: post #7
austenallred wrote: post #3

I lived in my car for three months this summer in Palo Alto as we were getting a startup off the ground, then when I headed back toward the Valley a few weeks ago for startup school I decided to relive it all again - from sleeping in my car to showering at the YMCA. On the drive over from Utah I stopped in Elko, Nevada to sleep for the night, and as I had before I found my "spot" in Palo Alto, I drove off into a less…

I'm not from the US but I plan on doing a cross country adventure at some point. Let me ask you this; If my vehicle of choice was a delivery van of recent vintage with an artistic decal of a well known soda brand, would that help with avoiding such encounters? At worst I could claim to be an Andy Warhol fan, would that fly?

Define van. Some folks take that to mean the Mystery Machine from Scooby Doo, but locally soda/beer/etc is sold out of giant trucks, semis with trailers.

I think you'd have better odds with a tradesman's van/truck for some obscure service. Not a craft meth heads would be magnetically attracted to steal and fence tools like a plumber. Something unappealing like grease trap cleaning service. Or contents you don't want to screw around with, like an exterminator service.

You'll run into some interesting state laws about commercial drivers licenses, and registration of commercial vehicles. Just because you're sleeping in it, doesn't mean according to the cops that its not a commercial delivery vehicle that you've borrowed or whatever (who cares why) and as such both you and the truck should be licensed to actually deliver sodas for hire. Some states have weird laws. You may even be required to have a business license and business insurance to get the commercial vehicle registration.

A magnetic decal sign applied to a plain old van when stopped might be wisest. Can't be pulled over for something you're not displaying and when you're parked, unless you're about to get a parking ticket, no one cares if you're a properly registered commercial vehicle anyway.

Re: Meet the American Nomads of Walmart's Plentiful Parking Lots

#39

Post by protomyth »

code_duck wrote: post #35
protomyth wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The local Walmart pays better than the local grocery store or any of the small businesses on main street. There is a reason that so many apply.

Sure, now that Walmart has crushed those businesses, it can afford to pay a little more than they can.

Those businesses are still around, it is pretty easy given what Walmart actually sells. Amazon is more a pain for a lot of those businesses.

Re: Meet the American Nomads of Walmart's Plentiful Parking Lots

#40

Post by protomyth »

rsl7 wrote: post #30
protomyth wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The local Walmart pays better than the local grocery store or any of the small businesses on main street. There is a reason that so many apply.

better.. if they let you work full time.

Given the new healthcare law, no main street business is going to have full-time workers other than relatives. 29 is going to be it.
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