Date: Mon, 15 Apr 2002 04:35:47 EDT
Reply-To: Oxroad@AOL.COM
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: Jeffrey R <Oxroad@AOL.COM>
Subject: Re: living in an rv (no vanagon content)
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In a message dated 4/14/2002 4:53:48 PM Pacific Daylight Time,
zenlunatic42@HOTMAIL.COM writes:
> I was being generous with all my figures and it seems that the rv
> would be more expensive so I was wondering if anyone could give me more
> specific info on how much it would cost to live in an rv for a month.
I had an idea to live in my Wesfalia in NYC when I lived there and the rents
were going up (about 2 years ago). The idea was live in the bus and shower at
the Gym where I'd go everyday anyway. Then the idea of moving up to an RV. I
had the idea to put bars on the windows of the RV like on low floors in bad
neighborhoods in some citys or everywhere in Manhattan. (Dealing with the
symptom seems easier than dealing with the problem to some.) And in NYC the
non-window vans that plumbers and carpenters use have an iron mesh that hangs
on the inside or outside of and locks over the van door windows with a giant
pad lock. So even if those windows are busted no one could get in.
But then there's getting out. Like in case of fire. So it seemed the iron
bars on the living compartment would have to be somehow releaseable from the
inside. And all these bars to keep out the criminal element when one was away
from the RV at work and the like.
With luck I figured I would need a pump out for the waste once a week which
would most likely involve a drive out of Manhattan. Again Gym facilities
could be used to minimize filling the holding tanks.
And all this to avoid the high rent figuring at that time a great deal on my
small apartment was $1200 a month. When you're up against that rent the RV
might be cheaper for about the same square-footage. (but what if you get
ticketed or towed which is easy in a city and which would drive up the cost)
But finding parking would be an issue since street parking is at a minimum
and I think sleeping in a vehicle is illegal there (not sure of the exact
law).
So I gave it a test night sleeping on the E. 78th Street in Manhattan in my
Westfalia. Not a good night's sleep. I felt pretty vunerable and as the city
never sleeps many people seem to walk by and peer in the windows trying to
look around the curtains, saying "I think there's a guy sleeping in there." I
figured after that one-night experience no matter how you slice it, when
you're sleeping in a car, even a Westfalia, you're basically living like a
homeless person--or are a homeless person.
Now that's if you're going to make the vehicle your home. And I'm not saying
there's any shame in it, but it takes a certain amount of fortitude to live
that way in a city. And it became obvious to me it wasn't a good idea for me.
So I kept my apartment and looked at paying the rent a little more fondly
after that.
Having said that I did see a handful of people who lived in RVs in Manhattan.
Most of the RVs, in fact all, were extremely run down. And I think it was
people without much financial choice in the matter.
I did read a newspaper article several years ago where a guy spend a load of
cash building a Manhattan worthy RV to beat the cost of rent and apparently
lived down near Wall Street. But I never saw the guy and never got a copy of
the article ( I read it in some else's newspaper over someone's shoulder on
the subway. So the paper could have been the ONION, I dunno.
Here in LA where I am now I see people who seem to live in RVs and park them
on overpasses of the freeway. On the overpasses there is room for legal
parking that continues from along the length of the street it carries over
the freeway. My guess is the overpass is either state or federally owned and
the local police can't bother the RV dwellers in that space as it's
technically not their jurisdiction. But that's just a guess. Maybe they just
love the sound of the Freeway.
I think in most places you'd find it hard to find a place to park in an RV
and sleep without being a target of local police. So you'd find yourself
paying for a campsite.
I camped in Malibu on the beach in my Westfalia here when I first moved out
for a few weeks. But that was at a State campsite for $10 a night amounting
to $300 or so a month if you stayed that long. And regulations dictate a
maximum stay of something like 2 weeks or maybe one week. The beach site had
no running water and primitive toilets. Up in Malibu Canyon there was a
campsite with running hot water and showers for $1.00 extra on top of the $10
a night fee or something like that. So every few nights I would stay up in
the Canyon and shower and the like. (Hygene is a priority in my life, but
give me a break, I was camping).
In Malibu it seemed the Police were pretty strict about enforcing no
overnight parking rules on the roadways and parking lots.
In Hollywood up in the residential areas of the hills I see a Westfalia
parked on a regular basis and I think a guy lives in it. But my guess is
sooner or later the police will move him along if that's the case.
I guess it depends on where you're going to be and what your needs are. I
don't think a month would be impossible. But from my thinking there are
obsticals, some of which I hit on above--and add to that personal safety as
you can be pretty vunerable in a RV or VW bus stealth camping.
An if you're going to be in an authorized night to night campsite I'm not
sure it would save money with cost of operation of the RV and nightly fees.
Although it sounds like you came to that conclusion as well.
I still haven't totally given up on the idea as it seems somehow absurd to
pay rent. And I hate to sound like I'm thinking inside the box, but it seems
if it were a solution you'd see more RVs with people living in them rather
than using them for leisure.
Anyway that's my lengthy two cents, the rest goes to my landlord.
Jeff
83.5 Westy
LA,CA
The