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Car campers in beach parking lots

bakersfield.com

131–140 of 161 posts

Re: Car campers in beach parking lots

#131

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There have been many such people. You have to do it stealthily though, because if Google finds out, it has to kick you off campus due to zoning issues. Any support the company gave is in the long past now.

I wonder, can you get away with it at the Mountain View Walmart? In most of the country Walmart is ok with letting people sleep in their cars/rvs there. But I could see the Mountain View location having different rules

Walmart generally allows it, but if local ordinances don't, you can't. You can't in the Mountain View Walmart, I assume for that reason. I ended up there once on an 8 month road trip and they asked me to leave.

But there are so few good places in the valley that they may have had to disallow it in order to not become an RV lot.

Re: Car campers in beach parking lots

#132

I talked with a guy living in a motorhome in Mountain View California, he works for Google. He could certainly afford an apartment but said his payments on the motorhome are about $600 a month, and an apartment close to Google would be $2500 a month at least, so he feels like its a free $2000 a month to save or spend. He's fortunate that Google also has nice showers, free food, and laundry. Things he might otherwise…

https://www.businessinsider.com/couple-lived-in-rv-in-google...

https://www.gizbot.com/miscellaneous/features/5-reasons-why-...

https://www.sfgate.com/lifestyle/article/Google-employee-sti...

Re: Car campers in beach parking lots

#133
post #90

Our public policy often chooses to subsidize free parking by making large chunks of land available for free use by automobiles. Modern technology allows permanent structures to be much more space-efficient for housing by building many stories high. However, the use of such technology is often banned and structures are limited to one or two stories. Also, even for one-story structures, rules often require eg. 6000 sqf…

Indeed, this is a predictable effect of subsidizing on-street parking. Banning free street parking would unwarp the economics.

The down side is that retail stores suffer because customers are less likely to visit when they have to pay for parking. It's one more factor driving consumers away from brick-and-mortar stores to online ordering.

Re: Car campers in beach parking lots

#134
post #127

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I wonder, can you get away with it at the Mountain View Walmart? In most of the country Walmart is ok with letting people sleep in their cars/rvs there. But I could see the Mountain View location having different rules

Many Walmart’s have banned this type of activity due to people dumping raw sewage and trash everywhere. A few stealth camping YouTube channels talk about stuff like this.

During the boom, the Williston ND Walmart had to end the practice, but other Walmarts still allow it.

Re: Car campers in beach parking lots

#135
post #48

Earlier quoted context omitted.

One of my friends lives in a shipping container in Oakland in a trailer park. She loves it and pays around $250/month for the space. When I was visiting, the people there are so nice. It’s a community in which people help each other, not like the upper class neighborhoods of my youth. In a span of one day, I got some weed, some beer, and an popsicle. A far cry from many upper class neighborhoods in which no one is wi…

Your experience is the opposite of most people's experience. I am from a poor rural area full of trailer parks. My experience with them is a place with heavy drug use, domestic abuse, extremely frequent robberies and violence. Definitely not a place most people would like to live given the choice.

Depends pretty heavily on the place. South Dakota has some really good ones and some really bad ones. Checking the light poles generally tells the tale.

Re: Car campers in beach parking lots

#136

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I wonder, can you get away with it at the Mountain View Walmart? In most of the country Walmart is ok with letting people sleep in their cars/rvs there. But I could see the Mountain View location having different rules

Wal-Mart likely intended for you to stay in the lot overnight after some shopping during your trip, not live there. Which is why a lot of Wal-Marts (or by new city ordinance) don’t allow it anymore.

Shit, I have sleeped in at least 15 walmart parking lots over the last year, and I have never had a problem.

Re: Car campers in beach parking lots

#137
post #133
post #90

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Indeed, this is a predictable effect of subsidizing on-street parking. Banning free street parking would unwarp the economics.

The down side is that retail stores suffer because customers are less likely to visit when they have to pay for parking. It's one more factor driving consumers away from brick-and-mortar stores to online ordering.

Retail stores are free to provide free parking on their own land of course. Street parking in retail districts tends to be metered anyway...

Re: Car campers in beach parking lots

#138

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fuck you.

Re: Car campers in beach parking lots

#139
It's amazing how little I truly need. I haven't paid rent since 2015 by choice. I can afford it, but see no reason to. I went to a camping store and bought the most comfortable air sleeping pad and other gear. My 4" thick sleeping pad is more comfortable than my bed. My total spend was less than $500.

While working on my software, I make money as a field engineer. I drive to my next client and just park nearby overnight. To the rest of the world, my minivan looks like any other parked vehicle. It's not an RV, so it's completely invisible. There are no signs I am there after I convert the interior into sleep mode. Since I have no commute, I don't waste fuel or time in rush hour traffic.

You would never know I do this unless I told you. :)

I met many others like me, usually by fixing their car.

Re: Car campers in beach parking lots

#140

It's amazing how little I truly need. I haven't paid rent since 2015 by choice. I can afford it, but see no reason to. I went to a camping store and bought the most comfortable air sleeping pad and other gear. My 4" thick sleeping pad is more comfortable than my bed. My total spend was less than $500. While working on my software, I make money as a field engineer. I drive to my next client and just park nearby overni…

Where do eat and bathe?
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