San Francisco bans homeless people from living in RVs with new parking limit

[Eugene]

Source: Associated Press

San Francisco bans homeless people from living in RVs with new parking limit

By JANIE HAR and TERRY CHEA
Updated 5:30 PM EDT, July 22, 2025

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — San Francisco banned homeless people from living in RVs by adopting strict new parking limits the mayor says are necessary to keep sidewalks clear and prevent trash buildup.

The policy, which received final approval by San Francisco supervisors Tuesday, targets at least 400 recreational vehicles in the city of 800,000 people. The RVs serve as shelter for people who can’t afford housing, including immigrant families with kids.

Those who live in them say they’re a necessary option in an expensive city where affordable apartments are impossible to find. But Mayor Daniel Lurie and other supporters of the policy say motor homes are not suitable for long-term living and the city has a duty to both provide shelter to those in need and clean up the streets.

-snip-

Read more: https://apnews.com/article/san-francisco-homeless-rv-ban-parking-290eaeb7e6b03e43e866e5b1b914da3b

[SWBTATTReg]

1. This is going to be an ongoing problem not just in Calif., but in a lot of locations where real estate prices have

jumped by giant percentages, year after year after year. Perhaps that's why the %s of Americans moving each year is decreasing bit by bit. I live in STLMO, and we see it even here, even thou STLMO is not really known as the place to live, vs. other exotic places such as Calif, AZ, FL, and other similar places. And that's fine w/ me, other than the fact that when these people move from Calif., FL, etc. to Missouri (perhaps for their jobs or family reasons), they have more money to play around w/ (in theory) then a homegrown MO person, and thus, the MO people slowly get pushed out. This cycle repeats itself all across the country in many different locations. It's sad, it changes neighborhoods entirely to where they're no longer the same, and the tempo of the neighborhood is lost.

Don't know how you can fix this, even if somehow one was to wave a magic wand, and instantly create one thousand new homes (priced at 'reasonable prices'), in an area, that this number of new homes would be so small, so ineffective in reducing demand, and pricing pressures on not just new homes, but all older homes too. So it keeps escalating, the pricing pressures, into a never ending cycle.

Perhaps someone on DU has some thoughts to address or add to this, every city in the country seems to have its share of people living in motor homes, and the Not In My Backyard (NIMB) feelings in many neighborhoods seems to also stifle steps to try and improve the situation of the homeless.

[Auggie]

2. Needs assistance from the Federal Government that won't be coming anytime soon

Aside from better paying union jobs, higher corporate taxes, and more social spending, I can envision a short-term solution like mobile parks, similar to the New Deal WPA kind of the 30s. If you're familiar with the 1940s film The Grapes of Wrath, you know what I'm referring to -- U.S. government sanctioned and managed.

Won't happen under this administration. California could do it, though under current environmental law and building and sanitation codes, not to mention NIMBY reaction, it would be a miracle.