Welcome to USA "Land of Dreams & Plenty of Hollywood"

[Wiz]

Welcome to USA "Land of Dreams
& Plenty of Hollywood"

Without parking, thousands of Americans
who live in vehicles have nowhere to go!

My neighbor, Billy, has lived for 17 years in a 20-foot-long recreational vehicle parked within a mostly industrial, but now gentrifying, neighborhood in Seattle.

A 66-year-old former carpet layer and handyman, Billy says he wants to move out of his RV, but he doesn’t have the income, savings and credit or rental history to rent in Seattle’s expensive housing market. The lack of off-street space for his vehicle and city parking restrictions offer few options for leaving his home unattended while he finds employment, housing or social service assistance.

I asked Billy once if he used services designed for the homeless. He paused, then answered, “I’m not homeless. This RV is my home.”

During the last decade, I have studied how people use vehicles for shelter in Seattle. I found that a growing number of Americans, like Billy, value these mobile shelters as a form of affordable housing.

What's your Dream?



Read more:

Without parking, thousands of Americans who live in vehicles have nowhere to go!

 

[cufflinks]

He is 66 years old eligible for full Social Security, Medicare and a retirement apartment - truth is he likes the freedom of his RV.

You see them parked overnight in Walmart parking lots all over the place - Really Nice Bus sized ones - you can buy a nice low mileage RV with less than 30K miles for as little as $15K USD and drive down to Florida and rent an RV spot with hookups for $300 to $400 per month with security guards.

Not a bad life really for a odd jobs handyman.

[Wiz]

He is 66 years old eligible for full Social Security, Medicare and a retirement apartment - truth is he likes the freedom of his RV.

You see them parked overnight in Walmart parking lots all over the place - Really Nice Bus sized ones - you can buy a nice low mileage RV with less than 30K miles for as little as $15K USD and drive down to Florida and rent an RV spot with hookups for $300 to $400 per month with security guards.

Not a bad life really for a odd jobs handyman.

Surely that is not a normal kind of lifestyle?

He obviously doesn't like a steady family life...... but a Gypsy style one......
oh well everybody to his own!

 

[andrewfi]

I can understand the appeal of RV life. A woman I know, an online marketer, did this for years. She has now built a home on a lake in Canada. Looks lovely. Odd thing is that she still spends her time traveling. I think the mobility bug has infected her.

The Seattle bloke seems to be kinda stuck though. Not taking advantage of the lifestyle benefits and so is trapped in a cold home in a cold environment, in a cold city. Worst of all worlds. He'd be better off doing as others do and following the sun.

[2tallbill]

I can understand the appeal of RV life. A woman I know, an online marketer, did this for years. She has now built a home on a lake in Canada. Looks lovely. Odd thing is that she still spends her time traveling. I think the mobility bug has infected her.

The Seattle bloke seems to be kinda stuck though. Not taking advantage of the lifestyle benefits and so is trapped in a cold home in a cold environment, in a cold city. Worst of all worlds. He'd be better off doing as others do and following the sun.

The Seattle guy and the author or the article who calls him his neighbor. 
How can you be a neighbor of somebody living in various parking lots in
an RV? They seem to be a bit on the fringe of society.

Most of those fringe people have real problems with drugs or insanity.
One of our biggest problems in the US is that we don't have a solution
for insanity. They have bad brain chemistry and need to take drugs to
keep their brains right, but you can't make them take them and you
can't convince them that they are crazy or that they can't talk to
Elvis.

[yankee]

I can understand the appeal of RV life. A woman I know, an online marketer, did this for years. She has now built a home on a lake in Canada. Looks lovely. Odd thing is that she still spends her time traveling. I think the mobility bug has infected her.

The Seattle bloke seems to be kinda stuck though. Not taking advantage of the lifestyle benefits and so is trapped in a cold home in a cold environment, in a cold city. Worst of all worlds. He'd be better off doing as others do and following the sun.

The Seattle guy and the author or the article who calls him his neighbor. 
How can you be a neighbor of somebody living in various parking lots in
an RV? They seem to be a bit on the fringe of society.

Most of those fringe people have real problems with drugs or insanity.
One of our biggest problems in the US is that we don't have a solution
for insanity. They have bad brain chemistry and need to take drugs to
keep their brains right, but you can't make them take them and you
can't convince them that they are crazy or that they can't talk to
Elvis.

and the benefits for the homeless in the Seattle are much better than many other areas.