Date: Tue, 24 Jun 2008 16:52:43 -0400
Reply-To: Christopher Gronski <gronski@GMAIL.COM>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: Christopher Gronski <gronski@GMAIL.COM>
Subject: City of Angels snarling at campers
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I thought I'd repost this recent associated press article on urban campers
in LA.
I took a trip down there in January and recall seeing the huge number of
RV`s on the streets in Orange County, and thought to myself that it would be
a pretty great place to do some full timing. I was not in my Vanagon but did
spend a night or two in the back of my rented car. The climate was mild,
over night parking was allowed, and most of the beaches had those outdoor
showers. But perhaps not if there is a crack down going on.
Now five dogs in camper is asking to get caught in my opinion, and I don`t
agree with people dumping human waste, but I imagine many people have few
other options than car living. Here is the story:
*Story Highlights*
- *Los Angeles cracking down on homeless camping in neighborhoods*
- *Homeless living in RVs, campers and cars parked on streets*
- *Homeowners say homeless have left human waste on streets*
- *Campers tend to have jobs, disability checks, but can't afford rent*
*LOS ANGELES, California (AP) *-- Having lost her job and her three-bedroom
house, Darlene Knoll has joined the legions of downwardly mobile who are
four wheels away from homelessness.
She is living out of her shabby 1978 RV, and every night she has to look for
a place to park where she won't get hassled by the cops or insulted by
residents.
"I'm not a piece of trash," the former home health-care aide said as she
stroked one of five dogs in her cramped quarters parked in the waterfront
community of Marina del Rey.
Amid the foreclosure crisis and the shaky economy, some California cities
are seeing an increase in the number of people living out of their cars,
vans or RVs.
Acting on complaints from homeowners, the Los Angeles City Council got tough
earlier this year by forbidding nearly all overnight parking in residential
neighborhoods such as South Brentwood.
But some people are just crowding into other parts of the city, including
the seaside community of Venice, where dozens of rusty, dilapidated campers
can be seen lined up outside neat single-family homes. The stench of urine
emanates from a few of the vehicles, and some residents say they have seen
human waste left behind.
"They're nasty and gnarly," said Venice resident Jeff Scharlin. "We've heard
about drug dealing and prostitution in them. I've never seen it, but
visually they're a blight and they take up parking space."
In Los Angeles, as in many other cities, it is illegal to live in vehicles
on public streets. But the law is not easy to enforce. Police have to enter
a vehicle to find signs that people are living there, such as cooking or
sleeping, and occupants often refuse to answer when cops knock.
An easier way is to restrict overnight parking. In L.A., a first offense
carries a $50 fine, and subsequent violations can cost as much as $100.
Parking-enforcement officers often give vehicle owners a warning and tell
them to move on before issuing a ticket, and that usually solves the
problem, said Alan Willis, a city transportation engineer. But other cities
in the area are not as lenient.
"I had my motor home towed in Culver City. It cost me $500 to get it out,"
said Desiri Hawkins, who lives in a small RV in Venice. "I got ticketed in
Santa Monica and had to go to court."
Tourist states with temperate climates, such as California and Florida, have
long been magnets for the homeless. Los Angeles is the nation's homelessness
capital, with an estimated 73,000 people on the streets. A survey of 3,230
homeless people last year in Los Angeles County found nearly 7 percent
living in vehicles, according to the Los Angeles Homeless Services
Authority.
"It's trending toward an increase," said Michael Stoop, acting executive
director of the National Coalition for the Homeless. "People would rather
live in a vehicle than wind up in a shelter, and you can't stay on a
friend's couch forever."
People living out of their cars or campers tend to be more well-off than the
homeless on the street. They usually have jobs or disability checks that
enable them to maintain an old camper but do not allow them to afford rent.
"For more working-class and lower-middle-class people, the car is the first
stop of being homeless, and sometimes it turns out to be a long stop," said
Gary Blasi, a University of California, Los Angeles, law professor and
activist on homeless issues.
Some Venice residents are clamoring for overnight parking restrictions. But
parking limits in oceanfront neighborhoods are problematic because the
California Coastal Commission requires communities to accommodate surfers,
fishermen and other early-morning beachgoers.
"The complaints are getting louder and louder," said Los Angeles City
Councilman Bill Rosendahl.
For years, some cities such as Santa Barbara, California, and Eugene,
Oregon, have accommodated people who live out of their vehicles. Activists
in Venice are looking at some of those ideas. Santa Barbara, for example,
allows vehicles to stay from 7 p.m to 7 a.m. in church and city parking
lots.
Knoll said she can barely afford to drive around with the rising price of
gasoline eating away at the $950 monthly disability check she receives
because of mental illness.
She said she is also sick of police waking her up in the wee hours by
pounding on her vehicle with their nightsticks, and she is tired of fighting
with residents who call her "lowlife scum" and hurl other insults.
"We need somewhere we can have a safe haven, where we won't be harassed,"
Knoll said as the wind from a passing car rocked her RV. "I never thought
I'd be living like this, but I'm stuck. This is it for me."
The Associated Press
