
Living from a car in Silicon Valley - kurtvarner
http://pandodaily.com/news/kurt-varner-is-going-to-live-from-his-car-to-work-on-daily-toaster/
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tfb
I've actually considered doing the same just to get out to SV for the benefit
of my startup. I'm in my early 20's with student loans to pay off, not a ton
of free time (due to the startup) to freelance enough to pay for rent, and
grew up in a pretty poor family as my parents screwed up and had my sister and
I before my father was even out of high school. So renting a place wouldn't be
easy, and I would prefer to bootstrap as long as I can; I feel like I'd learn
the most that way.

I was born and raised in NC, so moving out west would be pretty exciting
regardless of my living situation. For the past 20 months or so I've been
bumming it under my dad's roof, and I feel like the stagnation has really
slowed my startup's development to a crawl; so when I get back in good shape
(man, I've really let myself go!), I'm going to jump at the first opportunity
to get out on my own again, even if that means living out of my car. I
actually bought the car I have now because I expected to live out of it for a
bit when I moved to SV.

Luckily(?), doing this actually won't be new to me. Back when I toured with my
old band, we practically lived out of our 15 passenger van - bunk beds and all
- so I picked up a few tricks that help out when living on the road.

The only damper on the situation would be that I have a dog, originally my
father's but I've ended up taking care of him. Not sure what I'd do without
the little guy by my side all this time. ;)

Should I end up moving out west at some point, living out of my car or not, if
anyone has any suggestions for good dog-friendly places for me to work out of
(and network!)... I'd love to hear them!

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msisk6
I did this back in the '90s.

I was working for a software company in the north bay. I spent most of my
awake time at work and most of my weekends in the mountains or visiting my
girlfriend in LA.

I realized I was spending a large sum of rent money for an apartment I was
never in, except to sleep.

So I got a storage unit to hold my few belongings, got a service I could drop
my laundry at (I _hate_ laundromats) and started sleeping in my car. Work had
a shower so that wasn't a problem.

Most nights I parked my car on the street near an apartment complex not far
from the Golden Gate bridge. In six months I only got hassled by the police
once and I just told 'em I worked at said software company in Sausalito and
had drank too much that night and didn't feel it was safe to drive home
(giving the address of a co-worker who lived further north I had an agreement
with for this situation). They said fine and suggested parking somewhere else.

Eventually I got a new girlfriend and being homeless just wasn't practical so
I ended up renting a room from a friend. I sured saved a lot of money during
those 6 months, though.

~~~
kurtvarner
Thank you for sharing. It's nice knowing someone else was has successfully
done this over an extended period of time.

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kurtvarner
Original post: <http://kurtvarner.com/post/19347794553/man-car-startup>

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dalke
When I lived in the Bay Area during the dot-com era of the 1990s, the
newspaper (yes children, the newspaper was on paper back then) had an article
on housing difficulties. Some people lived in the state parks, where they
could camp for up to a week before moving. One Stanford student lived on an RV
in one of the parking lots.

As for showering, go ahead and get the gym membership. Sound mind in a sound
body, after all.

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starfox
This illustrates that free parking is a major subsidy to auto owners.

I've lived in some bohemian situations in the past, and largly, the most
difficult part is dealing with people hassling you. People will literally call
the police about, "I saw a guy living in a car", and then the police come to
check it out, even if it's perfectly legal.

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binarycrusader
Many cities in the bay area have laws or regulations prohibiting this. I
understand the sentiment, but he needs to be aware that an officer of the law
may be knocking on his window in the middle of the night or placing a ticket
on his window while he sleeps.

Some cities allow overnight parking, but only with a permit which only
residents can get (and it isn't cheap).

Obviously all of these restrictions only apply to public property (streets,
parks, etc.).

~~~
kurtvarner
This was a concern I had, but it turns out that it is legal in Palo Alto. You
can see the details of how all the logistics will work on my original blog
post: <http://kurtvarner.com/post/19347794553/man-car-startup>

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OneBytePerGreen
I like this. Hey, even Chris Sacca tweeted about sleeping in a Wal-Mart
parking lot. (Not sure about his setup, though.)
<https://twitter.com/#!/sacca/status/156064344831045632>

Hardship (even self-imposed) might even lead to new ideas. If life gets too
cushy, there are few problems left to solve. Shelter is one of the most
elementary human needs.

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usaar333
> PariSoma is in San Francisco and will cost $295 for full-time

Wow that's relatively pricy. You can rent a room in SV for < $200 more (before
utilities and furnishings)

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yters
I'd be worried about getting mugged...

~~~
softbuilder
I haven't been to Palo Alto in 12 years, so my info may be dated, but what no
one ever talks about is "the EPA", East Palo Alto. Is it still sketchy?

