Invasion of Overnight SUVs

I still don’t see what the issue is?? What they are doing is legal?

I think the OP was sarcasm, it's a false comparison made to convey sarcasm, I think. It sort of falls flat though.

The letter writer misspoke. They don’t mean SUVs, they mean RVs. And the’re right - it’s starting to look like the third world with these beaten trashy hulks that line El Camino. Now they’re appearing in parking lots like Safeway. The city needs to do something now, before this infestation grows.

Bull
"The city needs to do something now..."
Like build more housing, reasonably priced.
The majority of the folks in the campers are employed locally but can't afford the ridiculous rental and purchase prices in the Bay Area.

"Who cares?"

I presume the people who live, work and try to run businesses nearby who can no longer walk in that area safely without stepping over crap and trash and whatever else spews out of those RV tanks.

Maybe one day when there's a serious problem in front of your home or neighborhood the original poster will return the favor.

@whatever, I’m confident if those RVs lined up on your public street in front of your house, doing nothing illegal but existing, you would be on the phone screaming at the city to remove them. No one says they have the right to camp on the streets. I can’t afford Pacific Heights in SF, but that doesn’t mean I have a right to camp on this streets.

[Portion removed] All I said was why they were there, not if they should be there. Take a deep breath, clear your mind, then read it again.

*Apologies but I did mean RVs. It is a blight and needs to be addressed.

It is happening all over the place along the peninsula, people are leaving all sorts of vehicles on the streets in our neighborhood in RWC for days and weeks on end. The police refuse to do anything about it even after they have been reported through the proper channels. It is blight and it does need to be addressed!

I completely agree with this post. It makes no sense that people can just set up a camp on the side of our road ways and in our public parking lots. These spaces are not designed for camping. They are PUBLIC space (not private space for the use of the owner of the RV). They are meant to be used by our community for things like day parking, and sight lines when driving on the road. They are dangerous and a blight in the community, and it's shocking that our local government allows people to do this. Most communities prohibit overnight parking or living in cars parked in public space, specifically to prevent this kind of behavior. I think our local governments are failing here in an absurd way.

Safeway's parking lot is a PRIVATE PARKING LOT. The private owner of the lot can put in terms and hours of parking in the lot if they chose to do so. The City of Menlo Park already has an overnight parking ban in place.

Welcome to Men-No-Park. El Camino is a State highway, and is to be used by all of California's citizens driving, stopping, parking, or whatever the State law allows.

This doesn’t happen in Portola Valley, Woodside, or Atherton so I think menlo park is failing their citizens. It’s clearly that they don’t care about enforcing or discouraging this behavior. Is it due to menlo budget deficit? Or overstretched police force? Either way, this is why people don’t want to live there anymore too much traffic and filth/homeless

I don't have a good answer to the RV problem, but I don't expect a good one from the people who have previously posted. I see not one poster who showed any sympathy to those who have no better choice than to live in an RV. If the police just moved them out everyone here would be happy.
I hope someone will show me I am wrong.

to ?
Read Private Parking Lot and Really?
The only street you see them on in MP is ECR and the state regs apply. Safeway id a private lot they can allow or disallow whomever as long it's not in violation of any sanctions imposed by the city when it approved the center and its parking.
Think folks. Get a grip.
You don't like the RVs contact the Safeway center owner or the state of California for ECR parking.
And "?" there is no room to park and RV or any other vehicle on ECR in Atherton, no sidewalks or bike lanes and people have died because of that.
Read this for state highways - PARKING VEHICLES ALONG A STATE HIGHWAY Web Link

The fact that Stanford does not pay property tax for education related purposes, which includes housing, is the fundamental problem. Our community services (fire, police, roads, schools) are built on tax revenue if Stanford with their massive endowment is not contributing then that is not equitable. They are essentially leeching off the community.

Oops ignore my prior post was for another thread on Stanford. On a related note, have to take a look at employers in the area (FB and Stanford) drawing people here with jobs that don't pay enough to cover housing.

Many of you want “ someone” to do “something”. Well, why not you? Take some responsibility for the plight of workers, whom we all rely on, but who cannot afford a home within normal commute distance.

Shall we all pay more tax so that housing can be built? What is wrong with Stanford or Facebook or Google stepping up to the plate? The private sector cannot make money with below market rate housing in this area. So government or business must subsidize it. (I have explored these issues.)

Resentment of the less fortunate is ugly and spreading. Let’s keep it out of our communities.

Stop trying to blame the folks that want clean streets as being insensitive. We can't have a conversation anymore without being attacked for beliefs that align with others. People pay good money to buy property here, but in some areas it looks like a slum.

Our elected officials are too worried about "offending" some group that they are forgetting about the folks that pay the taxes and actually vote. Good luck getting a city council member to worry about anything outside of their districts in the coming years. A total race to the bottom for votes and headlines, but no real work to make our communities better.

I Care
So stop bellyaching and run for office.

To “ I care”:

Why do you feel “ blamed”? I see no blame in my comments, only a requests for civility and taking responsibility for civic issues. As was said above, run for office and work to change what you dislike.

Have any of you ever been poor and know what that feels like? Like actually so poor that you can’t afford a real roof over your head. Maybe some of those folks work in that Safeway, get paid minimum wage and can’t afford the rent in this area, let alone buy a $2 million house in Menlo Park. Or do you think poor, minimum-wage workers shouldn’t even be in this nice, affluent area if they can’t afford it, even though they work here to support services that you use? Maybe they want to be in the area so their kids can go to nicer schools here and get a better education, and have the opportunities to live better lives than them. Maybe they’re sacrificing their dignity so their kids don’t have to endure the embarrassment of living in an RV. Or do you think these nice schools here shouldn’t be infested with poor, working class kids?
They should all get back to other side of tracks where they belong, right?
If we just want the police to “deal” with this situation, then we’re just asking the police to just use their authority to “remove the problem.” Yes, just remove poor people because they’re just an eyesore to the rest of us well-to-do folks sitting in our million dollar homes. They’re not humans who deserve empathy, just problems we ought to remove from the streets.
What happened to community- the foundation of civilized society? How about instead of sitting in our nice houses never having to worry about a leaking roof or how to pay next month’s bills, we donate our time and extra resources to help these people back on their feet? Donate professional clothes so people who can’t afford it can show up to interviews, support public transportation legislation so people can get to work, support child care legislation, because imagine how difficult it is to maintain a job if you can afford a nanny, or don’t have the luxury of a job that won’t fire you for leaving at 3pm to pick up your kid.
We live in one of the wealthiest communities in the country, we live in a bubble. The least we can do is realize the luxury we live in and try to understand other people’s lives and situations, instead of just complaining about poor people.

The language used in this thread to describe the RV issue is also just sad. “Disgust,” “blight,” “infestation.” These are fellow human beings, not a disease, not some parasitic insects. I encourage us all to reflect on the ways in which we view those different and less fortunate than us.