From 'vanlords' to safe parking sites: How RVs became Silicon Valley's housing safety net
#RV housing #Vanlords #Safe parking sites #Housing shortage #California homelessness #Vehicle homelessness #Affordable housing #Bay Area housing crisis
📌 Key Takeaways
- Vehicle homelessness in California has doubled since the pandemic
- An underground market of 'vanlords' has emerged renting RVs to desperate tenants
- Safe parking sites offer services but are insufficient to meet the growing demand
- Housing experts suggest rethinking RV parks as part of the long-term solution
📖 Full Retelling
In the Bay Area of California, thousands of residents have turned to recreational vehicles as primary housing due to soaring rents and a chronic housing shortage, with Santa Clara County reporting the portion of homeless individuals sleeping in vehicles more than doubling from 18% in 2019 to 37% in 2025, prompting city officials to develop safe parking sites as a solution while an underground market of 'vanlords' renting out RVs has emerged to exploit the crisis. Across California, the number of people living in vehicles has surged dramatically as the state accounts for nearly a quarter of the nation's homeless residents despite being home to only 12% of its total population, with experts estimating California needs as many as 3.5 million more homes to meet demand. The crisis has created a complex ecosystem where even vehicles have become rental properties, with individuals renting out aging RVs to desperate tenants for hundreds of dollars monthly without written leases or tenant protections, a practice that city officials like San Jose Councilmember David Cohen have condemned as exploitative. In response, cities have experimented with different approaches, from ramping up parking enforcement and towing vehicles to developing designated safe parking sites like San Jose's Berryessa Supportive Parking site, which offers 86 spaces with access to showers, laundry facilities, and case management services to help residents transition to permanent housing.
🏷️ Themes
Housing Crisis, Homelessness Solutions, Urban Policy
📚 Related People & Topics
Homelessness in California
In January 2024 at least 187,084 people were experiencing homelessness in California, according to the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development. This is 0.48% of California's population, one of the highest per capita rates in the nation. California has the highest percentage of unsh...
Housing crisis
Acute failures in the housing market
An affordable housing crisis or housing crisis is either a widespread housing shortage in places where people want to live or a financial crisis in the housing market. Housing crises can contribute to homelessness and housing insecurity. They are difficult to address, because they are a complex "web...
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Original Source
Parked along industrial streets, tucked behind warehouses and clustered in residential neighborhoods, thousands of Bay Area residents are living in one of the only forms of housing they can afford: RVs. Across California, the number of people living in vehicles has surged in recent years, as soaring rents and a chronic housing shortage have pushed even full-time workers out of traditional homes and into makeshift ones on wheels. Booming tech wealth, soaring homelessness In Santa Clara County — home to Apple, Google and eight of America's 50 most expensive ZIP codes — the number of people living in recreational vehicles full time has surged. County data shows that the portion of homeless individuals sleeping in vehicles has more than doubled since the pandemic, from 18% in 2019 to 37% in 2025. California accounts for nearly a quarter of the nation's homeless residents, despite being home to 12% of its total population, according to federal housing data . Experts say the state faces a massive housing shortage , with one estimate by McKinsey suggesting California needs as many as 3.5 million more homes to meet demand. And even as officials have expanded shelter capacity, federal data shows far fewer shelter beds available than people experiencing homelessness, leaving a significant share of unhoused residents without adequate access to shelter. "In California, you're more likely to become homeless than almost any other state," said Adrian Covert, senior vice president of public policy for the Bay Area Council, a nonpartisan think tank. "And when you do, you're more likely to become homeless on the streets rather than in the shelter than almost any other state." Why RVs? Advocates say many people turn to RVs because they offer a degree of autonomy that shelters and the street do not. "The RV was a lot better," said Salena Alvarez, who has lived in an RV with her boyfriend for a year and a half. Before living in their RV, the couple lived in a car. "The car is smaller … ...
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