Hi! Looking for van dwellers in Montréal, Toronto, and Vancouver

[equivalently]

Hi everyone! I'm a researcher at the Allard School of Law, and we're looking into the experience of people living in vans and RVs in Montréal, Toronto, and Vancouver. With COVID, we're interested in how all the new policies have impacted people's living situations.

If you're in Montréal, Toronto, or Vancouver and you're interested in sharing your experiences, would you be willing to fill out this survey? https://forms.gle/zMBnGevKiWQnbdRV9

It should take less than 15 minutes, and doesn't require any personal information (although you can choose to share your email at the end if you want to do a follow-up interview). There are also more details on the first page of the survey itself, which you can check out without committing to doing the survey.

I'm cross-posting this to a few different forums, but if anyone has suggestions for other places to circulate this, I'd appreciate it! 

Thanks!!

[rvpopeye]

Why exactly would a school of law be interested in such things ?
and
Tell us more about what you plan to do with this info.

[equivalently]

Why exactly would a school of law be interested in such things ?
and
Tell us more about what you plan to do with this info.

Fair question! We're putting together a report that compares housing protections during COVID in Vancouver, Montreal, and Toronto. The first page of the survey gets into this a little more too, but we're looking at how governments have protected (or haven't protected) people's living situations. In Vancouver, for example, we're seeing people living in vans being forced to move or even having their vehicles towed - not exactly prioritizing people having safe housing access. So we're collecting info on why people want to live in a van/RV, if they've had to interact with police/bylaw officers more frequently, and just trying to get a general sense of how many people there are living in a van/RV, because (understandably!) there aren't a lot of counts out there.

I know there are pretty valid concerns about snitches coming into these spaces to find out where van/RV dwellers are and force them to move or hassle them. That's absolutely not the intention of this - the only thing we ask about your location is what city you're in. 

As for why a law school is interested, it's because all of these kinds of housing policies are laws that impact people's lives. We're not here to enforce bylaws, we want to know whether these policies are helping or hurting people.

Hopefully this answers your questions! I'm happy to elaborate or explain anything. Like I mentioned, there's also more info on the front page of the survey you can check out without having to complete the actual survey.

[rvpopeye]

OK.
I'm not sure we have any members in/from those locations but who knows , typically we tend to move around but some do the city thing. Usually called "stealth camping" . Most of the people I know want to move out of housing and into the van life , not the other way around

One suggestion for your group,,,some of you actually move into a/some vans or even an RV . ambulance or bus conversion , go to the places you want info from and do some research on things like local government+police interactions or how to find places to park without getting the "late night knock on the side of your rig" from the inside looking out..it would be so much more valid don't you think ?
And on a side note,,,if anyone utters the phrase "You Ain't Right" we've got ya covered...............

We'd be happy to answer how to questions on living the life to those willing to go the extra mile in the interest of gaining real insight ....

[equivalently]

OK.
I'm not sure we have any members in/from those locations but who knows , typically we tend to move around but some do the city thing. Usually called "stealth camping" . Most of the people I know want to move out of housing and into the van life , not the other way around

One suggestion for your group,,,some of you actually move into a/some vans or even an RV . ambulance  or bus  conversion , go to the places you want info from and do some research on things like local government+police interactions or how to find places to park without getting the "late night knock on the side of your rig" from the inside looking out..it would be so much more valid don't you think ?
And on a side note,,,if anyone utters the phrase "You Ain't Right" we've got ya covered...............

We'd be happy to answer how to questions on living the life to those willing to go the extra mile in the interest of gaining real insight ....

There is absolutely something to be said for doing the research directly! That said, we also think it's important to listen to people talk about their own experiences and just treat those experiences as valid on their own merit, and sometimes that "experience it for yourself" idea can end up feeling a little tourist-y for something that is actually how people live their lives. Thanks, though!

[Blacktank]

one thing you need to do is distinguish between

homeless in need of help,

people that simply want to live small and are fine and happy in their van

and

junkies being junkies

[rvpopeye]

Some background for our group.
This is what's happening in Vancouver
It doesn't directly affect most of our world but it could !

https://thetyee.ca/News/2021/05/28/Vanco...-Crackdown

Familiar story .
blacktank's 3 type vandweller groups comment is a good point.

The last guy in the RV , reminds me of a lot of people I know.........

So what does your school hope to do about this Equivalently ?
And Good Luck !

I'm going to throw this open for comments , maybe someone has an idea.

[equivalently]

one thing you need to do is distinguish between

homeless in need of help,

people that simply want to live small and are fine and happy in their van

and

junkies being junkies

People can certainly have different reasons for wanting to live in a van and different resources available to them, but we want to hear from everyone and consider all of their experiences. If it turns out the vast majority of people living in vans are happy and safe there, that's just as important to know as most people being really vulnerable right now!

[equivalently]

Some background for our group.
This is what's happening in Vancouver
It doesn't directly affect most of our world but it could !

https://thetyee.ca/News/2021/05/28/Vanco...-Crackdown

Familiar story .
blacktank's 3 type vandweller groups comment is a good point.

The last guy in the RV , reminds me of a lot of people I know.........

So what does your school hope to do about this Equivalently ?
And Good Luck !

I'm going to throw this open for comments , maybe someone has an idea.

At this point, I think find out where the problems are and start talking about them! Amplify what people are already talking about and experiencing. Thank you so much!

[Texjbird]

YOUR GROUP MAY WANT TO CHECK OUT THE YOUTUBE CHANNEL "VAN CITY VAN LIFE".  4 YEARS AGO CHROME VALDEZ WAS A VERY WELL-KNOWN DJ. HE HAD A NICE FANCY LITTLE CAR AND LIVED IN A CONDOMINIUM.  HE IS FROM VANCOUVER.

HE PURCHASED A 3/4 TON FORD VAN TO HAUL HIS DJ EQUIPMENT FROM VENUE TO VENUE.  THEN HE REALIZED HOW MUCH ROOM THERE WAS IN THE VAN AND THAT HE ACTUALLY COULD LIVE IN IT AND SLEEP IN IT. HE TURNED IN HIS NOTICE AT HIS CONDOMINIUM AND IN LESS THAN 30 DAYS HE HAD PUT EVERYTHING IN STORAGE, OR GAVE AWAY WHAT HE DIDN'T WANT TO KEEP AND HAD MOVED INTO HIS VAN WITH HIS ENGLISH BULLDOG.

HE DOESN'T DO " STEALTH " VERY MUCH.  HE STARTED OUT WITH A PLAIN JANE CARGO VAN AND IT HAS TAKEN ON A LIFE OF ITS OWN AND HAS GONE THROUGH SO MANY BUILDS AND UPGRADES THAT IT'S VERY NOTICEABLE NOW.

ANOTHER CHANNEL ON YOUTUBE IS "JEFFIE BEAR " A NEWCOMER TO YOUTUBE.  IF I REMEMBER CORRECTLY HE'S A DISABLED VET AND HE'S ALSO DIABETIC. HE'S A TALENTED WOOD CARVER WHO ALSO STARTED OUT WITH PLAIN JANE VAN AND HAS BEEN WORKING ON IT BUT IT IS STILL A WORK IN PROGRESS. HE LIVES IN HIS VAN AND I THINK IS ON A CROSS COUNTRY TRIP TO THE EASTERN SIDE OF CANADA.

FROM WHAT I'VE SEEN ON YOUTUBE VAN LIFE IS ALIVE AND GROWING IN VANCOUVER, AT LEAST AS MUCH AS IT'S ALLOWED TO.

JULIAN AND QUEENIE,. WELL TALK TO TEXT GOT AT LEAST ONE OF OUR NAMES RIGHT THIS TIME