RV Boondocking on city streets - where is it legal?

Having the sheriff respond and checking out the folks that just want to get some shuteye for a few hours may be a reasonable response. Confronting a citizen who at most has committed a infraction of a parking ordinance at gun point is nuts.
Seems that Texans feel that an armed confrontation is the answer to every problem. I guess that might makes right. With all the gun toters in Texas it should be a very safe place to live, instead violent crime is 35.05% higher than the national average, and property crime is 49.92% higher than average. Tell me once again about the friendly folks in the "great" state of Texas!

Try that in my hometown in CO of under 200 people and the sheriffs department would be at the very least would knocking on your door.

bigdogger wrote:

msmith1199 wrote:

bigdogger wrote:
I was going to clarify that the shotgun comment was a bit tongue in cheek, but the more I though about it, the more I realize it is pretty close to true. If a stranger was parked in front of my home, I absolutely would confront them, and I probably would be carrying a weapon, which is totally legal. I am on my property, and as long as I didn't directly aim it at someone, I am totally within the law. Since I am not an idiot, I would know if someone was hiding inside. I would bang on the rig loudly and frequently, along with informing the cretins inside that it is in their best interest to move and move very quickly. The police would be called and I am 100% sure they would be on my side, parking laws be damned. Since I would swear to the officer that I know someone is inside, if you didn't answer the door, the officer would be duty bound to enter the rig to perform an emergency welfare check. When they find you alive and well, your troubles will have just begun. You could be cited for failure to comply with a lawful police order and will be a prime candidate to for a search looking for illegal contraband.
It would play out like this in countless neighborhoods and towns everywhere. People are concerned about their safety and the safety of their children. Some weirdos living in an RV are not going to be welcomed in nearly any neighborhood. Stick to the truck stops, the Walmarts,, the rest areas and all the other acceptable free locations.

If you really act like this, you run the risk of elevating a potentially harmless and innocent situation into a shooting which could land you if not in jail, at least in years of endless court battles. What happens when you run out there to confront these obvious outlaws and they see your gun and they get out their gun and things go downhill from there? Turns out once all the smoke clears that the outlaws in the motorhome were really your neighbors in-laws who dropped by for the night on their way to Quartzite to spending the winter?

Guess the neighbor's inlaws would learn a hard lesson that you don't confront a homeowner on their own property, at least in Texas. Maybe you people live in neighborhoods different from mine, but there is NEVER a strange RV or Camping unit, or out of state van parked on the street in front of any house in our neighborhood. If the neighbors had someone visiting in an RV, it would be parked directly in front of their house, probably with an electrical cord running to it. They would also let those around them know what was going on. There would never, ever be a reason for an unknown vehicle to be parked in front of my house. And if one should appear, it will be investigated and if it has no business being there, which it wouldn't, it will be moving on down the road.

I guess my neighborhood is different because I don't own the street in front of my house like you do. If some strange vehicle were parked there it would be out of the ordinary, but I'm not heading out there gun in hand to confront anybody who is legally parked on a city street. I may inquire as to the reason for them being there, but there is no reason in the world to play Dirty Harry over a parking issue.

mlts22 wrote:

free radical wrote:

its simple,there are way too many weirdos,then ever before,(I blame drugs for that)

This is why people tend to be territorial, and why people are fleeing to the smaller Texas towns (Hutto, Bastrop, Taylor) so they don't have to fear a home invasion or someone squatting in a driveway because it is cheaper than a hotel for the squatter.

Awwww, you forgot Plugerville....O, wait a minute that isn't a small town anymore...I remember when it was a gin, saloon, grocery store and railroad crossing that we could get airborn in a 55 Chevy. :)

Popsie wrote:
have you tried Free campgrounds .com ?

Cool. Thanks for the website link!

free radical wrote:

its simple,there are way too many weirdos,then ever before,(I blame drugs for that)

After doing a bit of volunteer work, I really think it was the drugs (or more specifically people's behavior on drugs, and when trying to do anything for their next fix) which has changed our society from fairly friendly to reaching for the phone and possibly the firearm as the first choice of action.

When I was a kid, copper was fairly expensive, but nobody would kick open someone's A/C unit to steal a compressor just for copper windings. A thinking person wouldn't do that since it means too much risk of being caught. However, add drugs to the mix, and a tweaker wouldn't hesitate to do an action like that if it got them his/her next fix.

This is why people tend to be territorial, and why people are fleeing to the smaller Texas towns (Hutto, Bastrop, Taylor) so they don't have to fear a home invasion or someone squatting in a driveway because it is cheaper than a hotel for the squatter.

Come visit Manistee Michigan, the Victorian Port City. Living in an RV on City streets during the summer is legal, or at least not enforced. Previous neighbors of mine (I moved), the husband has some sort of job that required him to live in an RV. During the summer, he'd drive his RV home and continue to live in it on the (public) street, in front of his house, complete with garden hose and electrical cord to the house.

Arizona Kid wrote:
May, 2013
"Parking in Venice is hard enough for residents, and now they are finally implementing oversized vehicle parking bans in Venice. Every Venice resident knows their local parking police person, some are even facebook friends, because people will park in your parking space or blocking it, parking is so bad.

“No Oversize Vehicle” signage was installed on over 100 blocks in Venice, the LAPD started to aggressively enforce the ban on sleeping in vehicles (LAMC 85.02), and residents can sign petitions to install overnight restricted permit parking on their blocks with a two-thirds majority among residents in favor of the action. And believe me, the residents all will. (Many of those living in their RV's were sent to the Streets to Homes program for help.) Santa Monica did a major crackdown on RV overnight parking so some of those people moved to Venice and things got ugly. The SM laws had been in existence for decades, but the parking situation had become worse, so they had to enforce it. The DOT is also looking into resident permits on commercial streets in Venice for those who live within a certain distance of the commercial streets, and limited time parking for non-residents.

The RV's are a huge blight in the some areas that needs sprucing up as it is. And it's really not fair to residents (home owners and those who pay rent to landlord property owners) who pay huge property taxes to not have parking for themselves sometimes, or for when their friends visit (literally have to park in a pay lot because of so limited public parking). If one wants to live in Venice, they should pay the price. The people with RV's that have been parking for years are very territorial, and even more so since so many spots have disappeared."

Good update. Glad problems are getting under control. And probably cost a lot of money for those left holding the bag(tax payers). Not that the other citizens don't pay tax. They probably paid more % wise of their income than others, but that amount usually doesn't cover the costs of the problems they created.

May, 2013
"Parking in Venice is hard enough for residents, and now they are finally implementing oversized vehicle parking bans in Venice. Every Venice resident knows their local parking police person, some are even facebook friends, because people will park in your parking space or blocking it, parking is so bad.

“No Oversize Vehicle” signage was installed on over 100 blocks in Venice, the LAPD started to aggressively enforce the ban on sleeping in vehicles (LAMC 85.02), and residents can sign petitions to install overnight restricted permit parking on their blocks with a two-thirds majority among residents in favor of the action. And believe me, the residents all will. (Many of those living in their RV's were sent to the Streets to Homes program for help.) Santa Monica did a major crackdown on RV overnight parking so some of those people moved to Venice and things got ugly. The SM laws had been in existence for decades, but the parking situation had become worse, so they had to enforce it. The DOT is also looking into resident permits on commercial streets in Venice for those who live within a certain distance of the commercial streets, and limited time parking for non-residents.

The RV's are a huge blight in the some areas that needs sprucing up as it is. And it's really not fair to residents (home owners and those who pay rent to landlord property owners) who pay huge property taxes to not have parking for themselves sometimes, or for when their friends visit (literally have to park in a pay lot because of so limited public parking). If one wants to live in Venice, they should pay the price. The people with RV's that have been parking for years are very territorial, and even more so since so many spots have disappeared."

SCVJeff wrote:

path1 wrote:

caliguy35 wrote:


I know California it's pretty much illegal except maybe in Venice Beach.

That would be the best place as you know it is legal and free. Enjoy!!!

Its neither

I thought everybody was basking in the sun with no worry's? Maybe changed since youtube was made? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C5gQ8eRrPxg