do you you often spot people living out of their car in the us?

21 comments

1. Nope

2. I’m not a busy body so I’m not obsessively looking into each car to inspect what people are doing.

3. No, but I often spot people living out of their car in the we.

4. I’ve never seen it.

5. No, but I don’t live where one may see such a thing. I’m sure it happens in some areas.

6. Once in a while I’ll see a car that is completely filled with stuff so I’ll wonder. But it could just be that the person is a hoarder or something. My uncle was like that, his car and house were both filled to the brim.

7. Somewhat, yes. I’ve seen a variety – the “van lifers”, RV dwellers, and people who have packed their lives into a compact car.

8. Most make a point to not be seen

   Keep their belongings hidden, find places to park where they won’t be seen sleeping

9. Not often, about once every few years. Mostly at stores like walmart or target

10. This depends heavily on the area. I’ve lived in a city where this was reasonably common, but I don’t personally see it in the city I currently live in. I imagine it’s more common in cities than in rural areas.

11. it’s definitely not something I see often, but it is something I’ve seen before. if you know where to look, you’ll see it. Walmart parking lots, truck stops, certain lots or areas of town that allow overnight parking (sometimes this is a specific effort to not ticket people living in cars, especially in the cold climate where I live).

    a lot of times, people living in cars are people who have recently been unceremoniously forced out of whatever living situation they were in previously, resulting in temporary homelessness.

12. I know people who have and do live out of their cars.

13. Never have except in movies

14. Its very rare around here. Weather is too bad.

15. Yes

16. Yes, especially if cars include RVs. Very common in Portland. Usually extremely junky (no pun intended).

17. No

18. I lived in my car for nearly 3 months once. I worked a professional job while I was doing it and no one I knew ever knew that I lived in my vehicle.

    I would suspect that a lot of people in America know someone who has lived in their vehicle and have no idea that they do.

19. All the time, but you can’t really know for sure, a lot of rental companies have cars registered in other states.

20. There’s a woman who I see about once a week who lives in a former school bus. She moves the bus from one parking lot to another one every so often. I talked to her once, gave her some food…I don’t know if she’s alone or not.

    There was someone living in an SUV in a vacant lot behind a grocery store for months.

    I think that the weather here may attract people who can’t secure traditional housing.

21. No. I know some who did when her family was having money problems, though I didn’t know her at that point in her life.