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jerik721 · 11-03-2013, 09:26 PM

I have seen a lot of people talking about boondocking in Walmart parking lots. This is an article on the diverse people staying at Walmart. It makes me realize why some of the city ordinances are not allowing it anymore. Just curious about other opinions on the pictures and article. Out of all the photos only one was an RV'er.

Meet the American Nomads of Walmart's Plentiful Parking Lots | Raw File | Wired.com

jablair · 11-03-2013, 09:55 PM

All it demonstrates is that some people will abuse anything. Be it a Walmart parking lot, beach area, city park and on and on. It is up to the Walmart manager to determine how long is to long. It does not justify the referenced ordinances. Most of which have nothing to do with Walmart but simply one group imposing it's will upon others, justified or not.

texnet · 11-03-2013, 10:11 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jablair

All it demonstrates is that some people will abuse anything. Be it a Walmart parking lot, beach area, city park and on and on.

I see it from a different view

Some of those in the article were on cross country trips and while not in RVs they were doing the same thing that a lot of RVers do, saving a few bucks on RV parks. We have stated in Walmart Parking lots when we got into town to late to find an RV park or we only wanted to stop for a few hours and then continue on our trip.

However, aside from the ones that are just stopping for a night or few hours of rest, I believe it demonstrates the large number of families that are being affected by our current society, the loss of family values and the number of folks that are out of work.

2Labs · 11-03-2013, 10:12 PM

I've seen a few iterations of this article that have been making the rounds lately - some with more information on each of the photo subjects.

There are a few people that have RV's in the article, vs people living in their car/truck/motorcycle - and at least one person says that he "lives" at one particular WalMart for months at a time.

Here's an interview with Nolan Conway - the photographer that created the project http://6thfloor.blogs.nytimes.com/20...-walmart/?_r=0

He's also done a "The People you meet at McDonalds" and this photo just kind of cracks me up.

mikell · 11-04-2013, 08:22 AM

Our Wal Mart allows overnight maybe 2 but they have to move people on quite regulary. It's old give them an inch thing. We had a family pull in our CG yesterday when we were out and they set up. When we went to tell them to regester they said they would next month when they paid rent. Well what about November rent they said they would pay the first of the month. Told them to pack up and leave but the guy laughed and went in his trailer. They left in a hurry a bit later after a visit by a friend in blue. I had turned the power off and they were going to call the cops anyway so they didn't have a long wait

jerik721 · 11-04-2013, 09:12 AM

One of the articles that went along with this didn't show up in the link. It talked about quite a few people living in their cars for weeks at a time along with their animals. It makes me very sad that some one would be in the situation that this would be one of their only choices. It also bothers me that people commenting on the article itself are calling these people dangers to society and that Walmart should not allowing anyone to stay in their parking lot overnight. When we go full time, we have plans on boondocking in parking lots also and I hope that this option will still be available.
But for the grace of God go I. Most of us are just one disaster away from being in some of these peoples shoes.

poppy bill · 11-04-2013, 09:36 AM

Amen Brother.

flaggship1 · 11-04-2013, 11:11 AM

One of these pictures is boondocking - the other is not. Can you guess which one is the Walmart parking lot and which is boondocking? The only thing they have in common is that they are both free for you to spend the night. I have nothing against sleeping in a rest area or Wallydocking, but I can't wrap my head around either of them as boondocking - or for any period longer than a nights sleep.
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YMMV - but probably not by that much.

TheArnolds · 11-04-2013, 11:28 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by flaggship1

One of these pictures is boondocking - the other is not. Can you guess which one is the Walmart parking lot and which is boondocking? The only thing they have in common is that they are both free for you to spend the night. I have nothing against sleeping in a rest area or Wallydocking, but I can't wrap my head around either of them as boondocking - or for any period longer than a nights sleep.
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YMMV - but probably not by that much.

When I stop overnight at Wally World I am "Dry Camping" not "Boondocking".

Davdeb1 · 11-04-2013, 11:47 AM

Hey!, the picture on the right is the one I took!
We got there before dark, and the place came alive 1/2 hour after sunset. Its actually quite entertaining to see the ebb and flow of some of these places at night.

In that particular place, people were actually living in vans, cars, trucks, and campers.

I could not imagine staying more than a night. To me its not boondocking or dry camping, just overnight parking.

jerik721 · 11-04-2013, 12:08 PM

I am wondering what kind of experiences full timers have had with overnight parking and seeing people living in the parking lots. Has anyone seen quite a bit of this in a particular area?

flaggship1 · 11-04-2013, 12:26 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Davdeb1

Hey!, the picture on the right is the one I took!
We got there before dark, and the place came alive 1/2 hour after sunset. Its actually quite entertaining to see the ebb and flow of some of these places at night.

In that particular place, people were actually living in vans, cars, trucks, and campers.

I could not imagine staying more than a night. To me its not boondocking or dry camping, just overnight parking.

Hey Dave!! - I had to search all over that other thread looking for your Wally doc picture. I thought it was in text message but all I had there was the nice shot of your actual boondocking site in Az - but your toad was too visible to post.

Sorry I did cite you as photographer. Lol. When we meet in HS in April I have a photo release form for you to sign.

Note to others - where I live we have the ordinance - 5 miles up the road - no ordinance. Dave and Deb had a great overnight place there at Cabbalas when they passed through our area. And that's a good thing because we really don't have much in the way of decent CGs near me.

The overnight - free spot experience is a mixed bag. Boondocking is much better. Learning to conserve and not having sewer is the only downside and you work around it.

Cliffy · 11-04-2013, 07:46 PM

Our Wally World is very interesting. We have a 7 month tourist season and then we're dead for 5. Wally World fills up some nights on the outer edge of the lot. Very few more than 1 night BUT if you go 1 mile up the road you can dry camp next to the same road in a spot right by the dam. Truckers use it all year long. 4 miles further up the road you can pull off and stay free for 2 weeks! Very few do. It has a million dollar view there!
Now can anyone guess where it is? :-)

smack2020 · 11-04-2013, 07:59 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cliffy

Our Wally World is very interesting. We have a 7 month tourist season and then we're dead for 5. Wally World fills up some nights on the outer edge of the lot. Very few more than 1 night BUT if you go 1 mile up the road you can dry camp next to the same road in a spot right by the dam. Truckers use it all year long. 4 miles further up the road you can pull off and stay free for 2 weeks! Very few do. It has a million dollar view there! Now can anyone guess where it is? :-)

I am guessing neat a river