San Francisco Is Pushing To Clear RVs Off The Streets

San Francisco, just like Seattle and many other cities, has struggled with the problem of droves of RVs parked on city streets. While the municipal government tolerated the practice for years, times have changed. Now the push to clear what are often dilapidated RVs off city streets has begun, stirring plenty of controversy.

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A new regulation from the city of San Francisco requires that vehicles parked in the area of San Francisco State University, where many of these RVs camp out, have to be moved every four hours. That presents quite the problem when just like in other areas the RVs barely run or sometimes can’t even be started by the owner.

Homeless advocates and others have criticized the city’s handling of the RV issue. Like what’s been done in other cities, they wanted to see safe parking areas set up. Those have shown to be problematic in other areas with violence, drug use, theft, and other crimes plaguing the sanctioned encampments.

Plans for such a location were started, with $6 million set aside. However, site selection was never completed and so the project stalled out.

Of course, some RV dwellers have decided to relocate to other parts of the city where parking restrictions aren’t in place. But it’s possible the restrictions or at least others will be imposed, squeezing the community further.

While there are probably a variety of reasons why people live in RVs, chief among them is the cost of living spaces in San Francisco. The peninsula is notoriously expensive, so having an RV as a home is far more cost effective than even getting a tiny apartment.

One woman said workers from the city came by and gave RV dwellers the option for a plane ticket to leave San Francisco. She said they were asking if people had family elsewhere they might lived with. It seems the point was the local government no longer wants them in the area.

Complicating matters further is the sad reality that many of the people living in these RVs are families with small children. Most are from Central and South America, says The San Francisco Standard. They’ve been offered residence in homeless shelters but that doesn’t allow the families to stay together in a shared space like what they enjoy in the RVs.

Image via ABC7 News Bay Area