Campground = low income housing???

[sacmarata]

I wasn't sure where to post this question so I figured I would try here. It's as much of a rant as it is a question, but it is a legitimate question.

I've been tent camping my whole life but am new to RV camping and was completely unaware of all the campgrounds that allowed year round/long term camping. I've even noticed that some State Parks which have rules against this allow guests to use loopholes to stay year round.

I've already been to 3 campgrounds (one state owned, one KOA, and one private) which were not much more than a trailer park. Sure the brochures look wonderful, with pictures that accentuate the positive but leave out the rows of dingy, tarped RVs with permanent decking built around them. Not to mention the fact that the "campers" there are now locals with local friends coming and going and cars parked wherever they can wedge them in.

Don't get me wrong, I have nothing against trailer parks or those that live in em, but a campground isn't built for coming and going and cars parked everywhere or with enough room in the "yard" to spread out all your "stuff." I know there are snow birds that stay places for extended times and I'm not talking about them. I'm talking about the folks that use a campground as their low income housing project.

Does anyone know of a way to verify how many "permanent" campers are at a given campground or if there are any chains of campgrounds that strictly don't allow this? I though I could count on KOA and state Parks for this, but have been sorely disapointed.

I wanna take my wife and kids out camping...not trailer parking.

[Padlin]

bdpreece wrote:
This is even happening in the membership parks. Thousand Trails which is now owned by Equity Lifestyle Properties is now leasing sites by the year. Many of the parks are populated by younger unemployed people with families who are living in run down trailers since it is about the cheapest place there is to live.

Sounds like many, if not most, of the low cost hotels.

[bdpreece]

This is even happening in the membership parks. Thousand Trails which is now owned by Equity Lifestyle Properties is now leasing sites by the year. Many of the parks are populated by younger unemployed people with families who are living in run down trailers since it is about the cheapest place there is to live.

[Supreme_Oppress]

They are as highly variable as anything else in life. If you are pre-planning a trip, google maps satellite view can be helpful or even street view if available.

[naturist]

I've a friend who, with her first hubby, spent a bit over a year living in a tent in state parks. They were too poor at that point to afford anything else. They got around the 14 day rules by using 3 different nearby parks, and simply rotating from one to the next.

They worked their way out of poverty eventually long before I met her, then divorced, and he went elsewhere, but she certainly remembers being desperately poor and having to live that way. She still enjoys camping from time to time, which is probably a miracle all by itself. But she'll tell you being that poor is no fun, and I'll point out that everyone has the right to exist, regardless of whether they are rich or poor.

As to the OP's question, I know of no way to screen out parks that have "permanent" residents save by asking, but even that won't do it. I know of a number of parks that have lots of seasonal sites with semi-permanent decks and patios and such, but clientele that is anything but poor, they just enjoy the camping experience and do so nearby every weekend.

[eb145]

Heck, I know of a private campground in Maryland that only accepts seasonals. No daily, weekend, or vacation RVers allowed. I found that out when I was driving by and stopped in to ask about their daily rates.

It is a clean and well run facility that is a nice rural resort.

I was disappointed.

Ed

[imgoin4it]

This is, or was anyway, a free country and the rv park owner is free to operate the park as he/she sees fit. You are a customer and it's your money so you can choose too stayyou can stay or move on down the road.sometimes I stay sometimes I move on. Life is to sort to stress over things like this.

[docj]

parkmanaa wrote:
Allowing long-term residents doesn't have to mean "TAPED-UP WINDOWS, DIRTY RVS, VISITORS CARS PARKED EVERYWHERE", and all the other insinuations that anyone staying more than a night are BUMS.
The long-term guests RVs can look as good as the overnighters; it just depends on the park establishing and then enforcing their rules. Before you get too critical, attempt to look at the reason for the 'long-term' RVer:
a. Came in from out-of-town for a 6-month, one year, or whatever temp. job.
b. A visiting, contract nurse who signs for 13 weeks, then may have contract
extended.
c. A person who is selling their home and building a new one.
d. A person whose home was damaged in a fire or windstorm.
e. A person has a large park model with 5 slides by the lake, and thoroughly
enjoys the RV Park life.
f. From out of area, got a job, and living in RV while house-hunt.
Believe me, the list of reasons go on and on and in most cases the persons are not living in the RV because they can't afford anything else.

Finally, if the RV park didn't have the steady income from those long-term guests, you would probably be paying a lot more for your nightly visit.

Well said! IMHO there are plenty of weekend vacationing families who disgorge tons of junk from their RVs and whose sites look far messier than than those of many long term residents. To say nothing of the fact that most long-termers don't have kids who race around the park in their golf carts. I honestly don't care what my neighbors at the RV park do for a living or why they're there. As long as they are respectful of me, I will return that respect.

[rjf7g]

I actually lease two sites in a 90% seasonal campground. I will generalize by saying that you should be careful about generalizations. The private campgrounds make and enforce their own rules. Not all campgrounds are the same.

[atreis]

One summer back when I was in college I spent a summer in my parent's PUP next to a farmer's barn while on co-op. The farmer asked me to help out some in the evenings and charged me a small amount for electric and water. I still had some privacy and it kept my costs low which allowed me to save more of my co-op income for college.

Many of the "permanents" area actually long-term transients - pipeline workers and the like. For them, it probably doesn't make sense to sign a lease on an apartment, and they have to live somewhere...

[tomman58]

I have to agree with 2 points. 1. Many campgrounds in the nation are seasonal, their bills are monthly and they need a constant income... hence the permanents. 2. i have normally not stayed at the bottom feeder CGs. I do a lot of research before doing a simple vacation or one of my cross the USA stints. RVreviews, Google maps, this site all help plus a phone call to the CG also helps. I have rarely been disappointed .

[loulou57]

The majority of our Ontario provincial parks have a 21 day stay on a Site. Now saying that....some of the more northern, lesser used parks have a % of sites that are seasonal. They are drawn by lottery so the same people do not get the same site year after year and others can enjoy. In most cases you can't tell these people are seasonal unless you look at their permit. They are clean, tidy sites. We don't camp in private places mainly because we find them to be packed in like sardines.

[2oldman]

OP: Now that you've been duly chastised for judging your fellow man, best wishes on avoiding these places. You did get a couple good responses to your question.

[Hammerhead]

It's not just campgrounds. Portland has people living in boats that are just tied to docks. The big problem is that when those old boats sink, the owners just leave it on the bottom and taxpayers end up paying the bill. Link to article in The Oregonian

[parkmanaa]

Allowing long-term residents doesn't have to mean "TAPED-UP WINDOWS, DIRTY RVS, VISITORS CARS PARKED EVERYWHERE", and all the other insinuations that anyone staying more than a night are BUMS.
The long-term guests RVs can look as good as the overnighters; it just depends on the park establishing and then enforcing their rules. Before you get too critical, attempt to look at the reason for the 'long-term' RVer:
a. Came in from out-of-town for a 6-month, one year, or whatever temp. job.
b. A visiting, contract nurse who signs for 13 weeks, then may have contract
extended.
c. A person who is selling their home and building a new one.
d. A person whose home was damaged in a fire or windstorm.
e. A person has a large park model with 5 slides by the lake, and thoroughly
enjoys the RV Park life.
f. From out of area, got a job, and living in RV while house-hunt.
Believe me, the list of reasons go on and on and in most cases the persons are not living in the RV because they can't afford anything else.

Finally, if the RV park didn't have the steady income from those long-term guests, you would probably be paying a lot more for your nightly visit.

[Dannyabear1]

My favorite rant here in La. Every campground within 100 miles of Baton Rouge has anywhere from 50 - 85% live ins, cause of all the industrial construction going on at the plants around here.