At the end of his day, Lucas Philips drives to his home overlooking Spanish Banks Beach in Vancouver, near some of the most expensive real estate in Canada.
He climbs out of his black Tesla and soaks up what he calls his B次元官网网址渕illion-dollar view.B次元官网网址�
But Philips is no wealthy property owner. His home is a Vanguard campervan berthed in a beachside parking lot.
He spends most of his life on wheels, working as an Uber driver in his leased Tesla. HeB次元官网网址檚 trying to get ahead, and lives in his B次元官网网址渟weet motor homeB次元官网网址� while taking online courses in the hope of getting a job in computer science.
Philips, who immigrated from Turkey five years ago, thinks himself lucky to share the view with mansion owners without draining his savings.
HeB次元官网网址檚 a member of a community of Vancouverites living in vans, trailers and other recreational vehicles parked across the city.
Some, like Philips, use it as an economic strategy to cut costs as they plot a course to prosperity.
Others have opted for a nomadic lifestyle, and plan to move on.
But more people are sleeping in vehicles as a last resort, as they try to stave off full-blown homelessness in the notoriously expensive city.
Philips said in an interview in November that he used to pay monthly rent of $1,600 for a one-bedroom suite in North Vancouver. When his rent went up to $2,300, he decided it didnB次元官网网址檛 make sense.
B次元官网网址淭he rent prices are just skyrocketing and itB次元官网网址檚 really feeling not that great when you pay for rent with half of your income,B次元官网网址� he said.
So, he bought a van and started living at Spanish Banks in October. Side benefits to the savings were that it made him feel closer to nature, and he enjoyed the van communityB次元官网网址檚 friendly vibe.
He said he hoped to move back into an apartment this year to better focus on his studies.
However, others have embraced life on wheels.
Retired Californian mechanical engineer Alex Mosson, 58, was parked last week at Spanish Banks in a beige recreational vehicle he called his B次元官网网址渢iny house.B次元官网网址�
He offered wine from a rack as he prepared a pot of clam chowder, with bacon and sourdough bread fresh out of the oven.
Newly arrived in Canada, he was joined by girlfriend Massie McCloud, 52, a retired airline pilot who lives in Kitsilano. They were planning to spend a few more nights in Vancouver, then Whistler, then head for Mexico, where Mosson used to live. In March, they plan to return for a cross-Canada journey, said McCloud.
B次元官网网址淒onB次元官网网址檛 get other people jealous,B次元官网网址� interjected Mosson.
McCloud likened the RV to B次元官网网址渁 giant backpack.B次元官网网址�
B次元官网网址淵ou have all your things with you,B次元官网网址� she said. B次元官网网址淧art of the reason we are both excited about doing this trip is that we both had really confined lives for the last several years,B次元官网网址� said McCloud, who added that she is recovering from long COVID.
But not everyone on wheels has a choice.
Over several visits to Spanish Banks, many residents appeared to be living out of cars and pickups, ill-equipped for the purpose.
Their windows were screened with makeshift curtains for privacy, their back seats and truck beds packed with possessions.
The residents approached in these situations were more cautious.
November rain dripped off the face of one man as he made repairs to his white box truck, strewn in black graffiti. He declined to give his name for an interview, saying he found his circumstances humiliating.
Dean Kurpjuweit, president of VancouverB次元官网网址檚 Union Gospel Mission said vans and trailers have become a way for some working people to stay in the city amid high conventional housing costs.
But the mission B次元官网网址渨ill never advocate for living in vans as an alternative housing solution,B次元官网网址� he said.
B次元官网网址淲e buy trailers to go on vacations. B次元官网网址� But nobody wants to permanently (live there),B次元官网网址� he said.
Kurpjuweit said his group had helped people move from recreational vehicles into supportive housing.
He said there is a difference between the B次元官网网址渨ilderness experienceB次元官网网址� of an RV, compared with cramped and inconvenient long-term life in the city.
Living for an extended period in a trailer in Vancouver is mostly due to the B次元官网网址渞eality of the housing market here,B次元官网网址� said Kurpjuweit.
Local residents said in summer and early fall that hundreds of people were living in vehicles at Spanish Banks. Dozens were still there in the fall, even after the City of Vancouver started warning people to move on, although their numbers dwindled with the onset of winter.
There are other campers in less scenic locations, clustered near big-box stores or scattered on quiet side streets.
Keith Light, 76, used to own a home on Pender Island, a 40-minute ferry ride to Swartz Bay on Vancouver Island. But for more than half a year heB次元官网网址檚 lived in a recreational vehicle, now parked outside an east Vancouver Canadian Tire store.
In 2021, Light sold his island home to pay off debts. He said this week that it wasnB次元官网网址檛 until heB次元官网网址檇 relocated to Metro Vancouver that he realized housing costs were B次元官网网址渢en times higherB次元官网网址� than on Pender.
He lived with a friend, who got B次元官网网址渁 little tiredB次元官网网址� of his presence after about a year, and he moved out in May.
B次元官网网址淪o, I got online and found this R.V. I got a pretty good deal on it, and it cost me $19,000,B次元官网网址� said Light, who lives on a monthly pension of $1,900.
He said it was comfortable but not a permanent solution.
For one thing, the van has no electricity. Light said two external generators had been stolen and the vehicleB次元官网网址檚 built-in generator didnB次元官网网址檛 work.
ThereB次元官网网址檚 also a sense of insecurity faced by most vehicle dwellers.
ItB次元官网网址檚 illegal to park a large vehicle on the street or in parks in Vancouver between 10 p.m. and 6 a.m., including at Spanish Banks, although exceptions apply.
Vancouver Board of Parks and Recreation spokeswoman Eva Cook said in a statement that illegally parked RVs remain a B次元官网网址渃hallenging issueB次元官网网址� in many communities.
Since October, 47 notices reminding owners of parking rules were issued and most vehicles parked overnight at Spanish Banks had moved, she said.
Cook said it was still working to B次元官网网址渆ducateB次元官网网址� users that overnight parking isnB次元官网网址檛 allowed in parks.
Paul Kershaw, a policy professor at the University of British ColumbiaB次元官网网址檚 school of population, said many people living in vans are B次元官网网址渏ust as smart and as hard-workingB次元官网网址� as homeowners.
But some have been born too late and are now locked out of VancouverB次元官网网址檚 real estate market or are facing prohibitive rent on even a one-bedroom apartment.
Vancouver remains the most expensive place to rent in Canada, with the average price of a one-bedroom apartment now going for $2,633 per month, according to the National Rental Report issued last month.
Saving up for a home is also out of reach for many.
B次元官网网址淚n the mid-B次元官网网址�70s, it took the typical young person five years of full-time work to save a 20 per cent down payment on an average-priced home. Now it takes 17 years,B次元官网网址� said Kershaw.
Jenny Tan, a city councillor in Maple Ridge, east of Vancouver, is all too familiar with the regionB次元官网网址檚 high housing costs.
She used to live in VancouverB次元官网网址檚 West End in a trailer, an experience that compelled her to get into politics to try to make things B次元官网网址渁 little more affordable.B次元官网网址�
B次元官网网址淚 will be super honest, if I had a choice, I wouldnB次元官网网址檛 be doing it for fun,B次元官网网址� she said.
She lived in her trailer for three years as B次元官网网址渃heerfully and optimisticallyB次元官网网址� as she could, equipping it with a projector and hosting board games with friends.
B次元官网网址淏ut look, I wouldnB次元官网网址檛 have chosen that if there was a one-bedroom apartment that I could rent somewhere,B次元官网网址� said Tan.
She said she ended up in a trailer in 2017 after doing B次元官网网址渁ll the right things in lifeB次元官网网址� by graduating from university and landing a decent job.
With money tight, living in her trailer was better than paying rent. But the downsides outweighed any sense of fun.
B次元官网网址淟iving in a trailer, you are constantly in fear, stressed about losing your spot, about the bylaw officers,B次元官网网址� she said. B次元官网网址淔or the years I lived in my trailer, I had no hot running water.B次元官网网址�
Tan eventually moved into her parentsB次元官网网址� house and considered her trailer life a learning experience. B次元官网网址淏ut it was not the thing I would have chosen,B次元官网网址� said Tan.
In east Vancouver, Light agrees.
Living in an RV is better than sleeping on the street, but what he really wants is a permanent home.
He said a renter should have to pay no more than 30 per cent of their income to put a roof over their head.
B次元官网网址淚B次元官网网址檓 really, really hoping that I can get a bachelor suite or one-bedroom in one of these subsidized housing units in Vancouver,B次元官网网址� said Light.
He said he spent a year on the waiting list with BC Housing.
B次元官网网址淏ut unfortunately, the only way the places come up are basically when somebody dies. And thatB次元官网网址檚 pretty bad. ThatB次元官网网址檚 also a sad thing.B次元官网网址�
B次元官网网址擭ono Shen, The Canadian Press
