Starting in October 2021, about 40 motorhomes or recreational vehicles (RVs) parked in a lot on Grayson Street in Berkeley, California, as part of the city’s first attempt at a “safe parking lot”.
According to Google Maps photos, the space had been mostly unused since 2008. But a local non-profit, the Dorothy Day House, created the Safe Parking and Respite Kickstart (Spark) program to help “alleviate the crisis of unsheltered and encampment homeless” in one of the nation’s most expensive housing markets.
The space filled a pressing need for those who didn’t have traditional lodging. People without stable, stationary housing could park their vehicles there for free without fear of violating city ordinances against sidewalk occupation and long-term parking. Spark provided water and toilets, and it allowed occupants to have pets and in-and-out privileges without a curfew – features that are often hard to come by on the street or in homeless shelters.
As homelessness continues to grow, so does the number of those living in their vehicles. A 2018 survey of King county, Washington, showed that 3,372 people were living in their cars, a 46% increase from the year before. In 2019, San Francisco saw a 45% increase from its count in 2017; in nearby Oakland, vehicle-based homelessness more than doubled in the same timespan. It’s not surprising that municipalities are starting their own safe-lot programs; in 2023, the cities of Vista, California, and Seattle and Tacoma in Washington established their first-ever safe lots.
Poster Comment:
But the illegal immigrants get cash, phones, and housing!