The ‘van life’
Imagine paying $120 to live in a studio in Los Angeles, California, where the average rent for a one-bedroom apartment is about $2,300.
Sounds nice, huh?
Stephen Hutchins, 22, a freelance animation artist, does just that, except he doesn’t live in an apartment — or a studio, really. He lives in a van.
And he’s not alone. Last year, 4,600 cars and RVs were used as homes, per the L.A. Times.
Why people are doing it
L.A., like many cities, has a housing shortage. This, coupled with a 3.1 percent vacancy rate, makes affordable living in L.A. an oxymoron.
“The main expenses are insurance for the van, which is like $60 a month,” said Hutchins. “Then, I have a storage unit for like $60.”
That puts his monthly rent at $120. The van cost him just $125 at an auction.
Meanwhile, Kingsley is living and working inside a school bus.
His clothing company is known for being on wheels. You can find it at music festivals, farmers markets and other outdoor events up and down the California coast.
“My expenses are maybe campground here and there,” said Kingsley. “Cost of fuelwhich diesel is cheaper than gas right now. And insurance, which is really cheap too. I don’t pay rent, so I can put more back into the business at the end of the day.”
One thing he hasn’t saved on is parking tickets.
While sleeping in your car isn’t against the law in L.A., parking where you’re not supposed to is.
Before he came to the west coast, Zander was traveling up and down the east coast of the United States.
“I think I’ve gotten about $1,000 in parking tickets.”
The #vanlife, says Jon Christensen, who’s with the UCLA Institute of Environment and Sustainability, is about more than just necessity or saving for this generation.
“Van life addresses that kind of philosophical or even spiritual dimension of dissatisfaction with the busyness and clutter of our modern life,” said Christensen.
And ditching brick and mortar structures for more mobile, smaller ones could be part of bigger trend, too.
“We have habits that were created in the 20th century that are beginning not to work so well in the 21st century,” said Christensen. “That includes cars that are only used a fraction of the time — vast spaces of freeways and parking lots that are only used a fraction of the time.”
“Last year, 4,600 cars and RVs were used as homes, per the L.A. Times.”
The L.A. Times is full of sh#t. Likelier at least ten times that number.
“While sleeping in your car isn’t against the law in L.A….”
Take my word for it… THAT’S gonna change soon.
Hate L.A. Never goin’ back.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IAhGUXeOz0U
Matt Foley- Van down by the river
“And ditching brick and mortar structures for more mobile, smaller ones could be part of bigger trend, too.”
It’s not a fashion trend. It’s called HOMELESSNESS, and it’s the result of a crooked monetary system draining the wealth of a nation.
Amen, that!
I saw recently the govies are going after them. The line is removed as to what an RV is and that looks like it is what they say it is. Recently somewhere here in the U.S. they went after a guy with a VW van and claimed it was an RV. I do not know the end result but he was fighting back. They want you where they can get to you. They want you dependent god forbid you break away and make your own way.
The problem lies in what you can live in and even if you don’t they will still want to control even that. You see RVs are for recreation not to use a living space. They don’t like that.
I have a real strong feeling that the lines are going to intersect in every way and soon we wont know what to do or where to go. Just about everything now is outlawed somewhere.