The RV Reality: Why Transitioning LA’s Vehicular Homeless Into Housing Requires More Than Just Shelter

Los Angeles has long wrestled with its homelessness crisis, and one of the most visible faces of this struggle is the rise of RV and vehicle encampments across the city. Rows of aging trailers and vans line industrial blocks, often home to individuals and families who once had steady lives but were priced out of stability.

Recently, local programs have focused on providing designated parking areas to offer safety, sanitation, and outreach opportunities. The goal: transition these individuals from RVs into permanent housing. But there’s one glaring problem with this strategy.

Housing alone won’t solve homelessness. Employment will.

Many RV dwellers aren’t without assets, they own their vehicles. What they lack is reliable income. Without a sustainable job or affordable rent, moving someone from an RV to an apartment doesn’t fix the root issue. Government programs help for a time, but when they end, people often fall right back into the cycle of displacement.

If we want real change, we need a dual approach, one that treats both the symptom (housing) and the cause (unemployment and affordability). Here’s what that could look like:

• Workforce training and job placement onsite at safe parking lots. Bring opportunity to where people are, don’t make access another barrier.
• Employer partnerships in industries like construction, logistics, janitorial services, security, and digital gig work, especially those open to second-chance hiring.
• Mobile business hubs to help RV owners start microenterprises: courier services, food prep, car detailing, repair work.
• Landowner partnerships to create discounted long-term parking zones on underused lots. Rather than criminalize vehicle dwelling, let’s legalize and organize it with dignity—zoned, supported, and connected to wraparound services.

The truth is: not everyone is ready, or even wants, to move into a traditional apartment tomorrow. But they do want safety, routine, income, and respect. Partnering with landowners to offer legal, low-cost RV parking lots could bridge that gap while job and financial resources are provided onsite.

This isn’t just a housing issue. It’s an economic issue. Until we create the conditions for sustainable employment and affordable living, we’re just shuffling people from one temporary fix to another.

Let’s shift the question from: “How do we move them out of RVs?“ to “How do we empower them to choose where they live, on their terms?”

Because that’s what real stability looks like.