When Scotty Whaley, 59, looks out the window of his recreational vehicle in Mountain View, he sees apartments. They look cozy, like the ones he used to rent out for more than $2,000 to tech workers when he was a property manager. But after he lost his job, he moved to an RV, which he parks on residential streets — often just a few miles from from the headquarters of Google.
“Simple math adds up,” Whaley said. Apartments cost “a lot of money.”
Ad hoc RV parks have burgeoned on Mountain View’s streets, accommodating residents like Whaley. But they bother some residents, who say they are irksome and should be removed. It’s the latest iteration of the Bay Area’s housing wars, with Mountain View being a classic example of the region’s problem: an inability to build housing coupled with the demands of a fast-growing technology workforce. And so homelessness is taking a new form across the region: Even people working regular jobs have sometimes been forced to live in cars because they can’t afford an apartment. RVs, at least, have showers.
What I heard is Google bosses around with those City Council guys. Apple plays nice with Cupertino City Council and residents, got the support to build the Spaceship.
Dislike of RVs is much broader than MV. You’ll find restrictions on parking them, even on one’s own property, in most cities. It’s just more classism.
Many white collar types look down their noses at RVs and pick up trucks as being blue collar implements. Something for the bourgeois and thus, something they don’t want around.
At least in California. In my travels in other western states they seem to be much more accepting of the neighbor’s RV parked in front of their house. Then again, they seem much less focused on one’s house as a status symbol than we are here in California.
Do you mean for the rv owners? I dont remember seeing many RVs while I was living in SF. But then again, I was in South Beach so even parking a mini is a challenge…
