this post was submitted on 01 Apr 2024
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Sleeping in a car isn't illegal necessarily, but there are increasing popup communities that settle in empty/low traffic lots and live out of their vehicles. Like most of America's problems, our politicans are sending police forces to "clean up" the effect, instead of trying to solve the cause.
Here's an article on Vehicle Residency https://www.thenation.com/article/society/homelessness-vehicle-residency-housing/
Sleeping in your car is actually illegal in a lot of places.
In Ohio I'd have to wake up every couple of hours to switch parking lots to avoid cops/loitering charges
Not Ohio, but I did sleep on my car on the West Coast on and off for about a year and only got into trouble once. And I didn’t even get a citation, just an oral warning that this wasn’t permitted in that particular town despite there being no signs anywhere (it was written in the city code).
I will say, for all the shit that private property owners get on this site, Walmart is actually one of the places where this is the easiest and least problematic to do. I always tried to avoid private property in favor of more inconspicuous places but I frequently saw quite a few motorhomes parked on their lots after dark and they were still there in the morning, and I’ve heard from others that they’ll generally let you be unless you are causing some sort of ruckus there. Same goes for just sleeping in the car.
In general, if you’re not making a nuisance of yourself or parking right in front of a sign that prohibits overnight parking, you’ll most likely be okay.
I slept in my car on public rest stops while on a road trip in Norway.
IIRC you can sleep in your car there for two nights, which I never ended up doing anyway because I was travelling.
Public rest stops are amazing, there's usually pretty clean toilets, benches for picnics and sometimes even showers or a lake to bathe in.
The US has such places along highways also.
I slept in my car for a bit and Walmart was the best place, followed by Home Depot.
The worst places? Believe it or not, truck stops and rest areas. I was asked to leave multiple locations. You couldn't tell I was living out of my car and I looked like I was just on a road trip.
Sleeping at rest stops is literally stealing money from hardworking hotel owners! /s
Yeah, check local ordinances this is not legal or universal advice lol