Earlier this week, we discussed the notice (however official or unofficial) that frequent WSB contributor “The House” got on the windshield of his parked-on-the-planting-strip car in Westwood. At the time, he suggested that police should be focusing instead on the seemingly abandoned RVs lining nearby streets. Tonight, good news for “House” and neighbors — we spotted Seattle Police enforcers in action (on Trenton west of the Westwood Village turn-in) along RV Row:
That just might be one of the 2 RV’s that hung out for days on Henderson. The portable generator noise was quite annoying. We thought they might just be moving around the hood.
Most of the “abandoned” RV’s have people living in them. They park near places with restrooms. See Harbor Ave, and under the Spokane St. Viaduct for other “abandoned” RV zones. Also along Alaskan Way.
I think a lot of them work night jobs, but are priced out of the Seattle housing/rental market at this time.
I’m not unsympathetic with people who are homeless. However, at least one of the r.v.s on Trenton belongs to the same person who continually parked a boat/trailer and p.u. on the same hill… that is until it was unfortunately driven into by someone who probably momentarily looked down and strayed into that piece of parked junk. That was last year and the boat and trailer are of course gone; but the truck still moves around the neighborhood until it gets another orange sticker and then it is driven a block or two and parked again. Call me a nimby or a nimfy if you will but I would rather these vehicles go away to… perhaps the scrap yard?
The residents I’ve encountered in these mobile homes could be classified as ‘homeless’. They just happen to have an old beat up motorhome instead of some cardboard. There are some long-term mobile residents that hang around the different streets on the Alki flatlands, some even befriend local house-dwellers for use of their facilities. I remember a Sunday morning a couple years ago when one of them came to my door and asked if I had any breakfast for him….lol…I didn’t even have breakfast for myself…so I gave him a glass of OJ and let him sit on my porch to drink it.
When volunteers do the one-night count of homeless in the White Center and WS area, we count two people per RV if we see signs someone is actually sleeping or inside at the time of the count. Signs include a light on, an electrical cord or other hookup and condensation on the inside of the windows; (it always seems to be cold and humid outside when we do the winter count).
Other people living in their vehicles or RVs prefer more secluded or industrial areas, where they perhaps feel neighbors and business owners may be less-likely to report vehicle camping and 72-hour parking violations.
Window condensation is the most obvious sign of occupancy, in conjunction with curtains and other window coverings pulled tight for privacy. Within neighborhoods, we observe most occupied motor homes/RVs near parks, community centers and churches. After participating in two homeless counts, I now recognize the signs of a lived-in RV, and see them parked in other communities in the vicinity of social service agencies.
The Harbor ave./Alki ave./Beach Drive area has several on any given day. Half are lived in and the other half are owned by people who are too cheap to pay storage. The police department will respond to complaints filed at this website: https://www.ci.seattle.wa.us/police/forms/Abandoned_Vehicles.htm
It appears that the piece of crap RV in the picture is still sitting there.
House, it is still sitting there; to my amazement. The other r.v. that frequents Trenton has moved (again, ad nauseum)to Barton across from Westwood where the on-street used car lot is. But there is no “for sale” sign on it.
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