New California resident

Shadi Baroud

New Member
Joined
May 13, 2025
Posts
6
Location
Sunland CA
Hi am new and willing to buy an RV to live in for a while since I am a new resident to california. So I just need your advice is it worth it can I park my RV in places where I don't have to pay rent or at least pay low rent and live with my family. Or it is gonna be cheaper for me to rent an apartment. I am an RV lover anyway but since am new my priority is to be able to settle.
 
Welcome to the forum.

California is a big state, whereabouts are you thinking of?
 
Hi am new and willing to buy an RV to live in for a while since I am a new resident to california. So I just need your advice is it worth it can I park my RV in places where I don't have to pay rent or at least pay low rent and live with my family. Or it is gonna be cheaper for me to rent an apartment. I am an RV lover anyway but since am new my priority is to be able to settle.
In the Los Angeles area, good luck on that, you will need it. Anyplace "cheap" down there you would not want to stay at for one night.

Welcome to CA!

-Don- Reno, NV
 
Parking on the street may be free, or where you don't have to pay "rent", is illegal in most places in California, even if it is done by homeless people. If you park in residential areas, people will get upset with you, and you are likely to get knocks on your door in the middle of the night.

The issue with this kind of "free" parking is that you don't have a sanitary system to hook up to, nor do you have a source of water. Also, state and national parks are not cheap, especially in California, and allow you to stay for only two weeks at a time.
 
Places where you can park/live in an RV with no rent or low rent are near impossible unless you have a friend willing to let you use his rural property - and he lives in an area were that is permitted. And remember, for you & family to live reasonably, an RV needs water, sewer, and electrical power. You can haul fresh water in and haul sewage out and add enough solar & battery to manage the electric, but that may be more effort than what you are willing to expend.
 
If you do not have to live in or near cities or towns and are flexible, you can consider BLM or Forest Service lands. Downside to those areas, while generally free, you would be required to move at least 50 miles every 10-14 days and you will have to workout obtaining water and making it to a dump facility. Also, in the CA desert and just over the border in AZ are areas where you can camp for almost free, like $200-$300 per 10-month period. But for your fee you get a place to park your RV that is safe, legal and water and trash dump is available. Downside is you likely do not want to be there in summer as it gets very hot. Quite honestly and being the bearer of bad news, other than what I just suggested, or what Gary mentioned of parking on a someone’s land, you are not likely to find what you are looking for.
 
you can consider BLM or Forest Service lands.
Yep, first step will be to get out of CA.

Perhaps the place I stayed north of Flagstaff would be the perfect place for the coming summer & longer. When you need to dump and get gas, water, etc, the KOA is only a few miles away. Won't be difficult to find a new area every 14 days, but in a place this large, just move within (IOW, break the rules) and it is VERY unlikely anybody would ever notice or even care.

Shadi Baroud, See here for more info.​


-Don- Reno, NV
 
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Thank you actually I am a bit flexible but maybe around Santa Clarita would be a good location for me
Good luck with that. Homelessness is a huge problem in CA because of the high cost of housing and with the recent Palisades fire destroying something like 6000 houses in Los Angeles any sort of accommodation will be hard to find.

Because of this you can't just get an RV and live on the street, if that's what you're thinking. Homeless camps are a huge problem and trying to live in an RV on a public street puts you just one step above the tent dwellers. The stories and YouTube videos you see about people living cheaply in vans and RVs take place far away from any major city, usually in the desert along the Colorado River between Los Angeles and Phoenix or in the mountains in northern Arizona and Colorado to get out of the summer desert heat. These are several hours away from where you want to be.

That said, there are a few RV campgrounds in and around Santa Clarita where you may be able to rent a monthly RV space. They're not cheap, but may be half or less than what you'd pay for an apartment. This is completely legal and above board, I did it for 5 years while I worked in L.A.

Your best bet would be to start by staying someplace like at your parents' and use this as a base while you search for an RV and a safe place to park it. It may take some searching, like I said there are many people in the L.A. area who are looking for inexpensive accommodations and very few RV parks to accommodate them so the parks can be very picky about who they admit whenever they have a vacancy. You'll have to submit an application with the park that's similar to applying to rent an apartment including background and credit checks and you and your RV will have to be clean and presentable.

Otherwise you're looking at staying in the desert communities like Lancaster and Palmdale north of the L.A. mountains, a good hour from Santa Clarita. Even then there are relatively few RV parks (although more than in the L.A. basin) and you'll be in the desert heat all summer long. Bakersfield is another possibility, there are several monthly RV parks including Bear Mountain RV Park. Bear Mountain charges $525 a month and it's a safe park but it's a good hour and a half north of where you want to be.

I retired 6 years ago and before that I lived in my RV for 5 years while working in Los Angeles. I was lucky to find a space in a nice RV park on Balboa Blvd. in Van Nuys. It's now called Hollywood RV Park and they charge $1500 a month if you can get in. A large portion of their permanent residents are people in the entertainment industry who work on a specific project like a movie or TV series for a month or two, then they're unemployed until the next project comes along. They spend their time between projects outside L.A. where living is cheaper, then return to the park while they're working. When I retired and left the area the park owner showed me a stack of applications 6" tall on his desk from people looking to move in.
 
Also, anyplace that you find that is free or very low rent is likely to not be safe. You cannot stay inside your RV to guard it 100% of the time because I assume you are young and still want to work to earn some money. And even while you are occupying your rig, you are likely going to be living in a high crime area because of other homeless people, so someone might think your belongings are nicer than their belongings and take them while you are gone.

As a grandmother, I suggest that you live with your parents for a while and save up some money. Then you can decide what you want to do in terms of finding a separate place to live. (Maybe you will want to get a college education while you are living there, if you don't have one already.) You may eventually end up moving quite a ways out of the LA area, maybe even to another state. But living with your parents for a while or even sharing an apartment with a friend will give you time to do research and get used to California.
 
Cali Lake RV Resort – Lakefront Camping in Santa Clarita. This is the link for Cali Lake RV Resort. Not exactly what I would call a resort but, it is in Santa Clarita. Full hookup for one month $1300 No hookup camp sites for one month $700. If you have an RV with a generator and don't mind driving or moving your RV to the dump station and water, a couple of times a month, this might work. You will not find anything anywhere else in the greater Los Angeles Area for close to these prices.

Another park adjacent to Santa Clarita area is the Valencia Travel Village, link Valencia Travel Village | RV Park and RV camp ground
This is a much nicer park and they don't advertise their monthly rate but weekly is from $539 to 574 depending on the time of the year. They are probably 15 to 20 miles from Santa Clarita.

Good luck.
 
One option, depending on your skills, physical ability, etc. could becoming a local/state/national park volunteer/employee that might get a great break on a camping site with utilities or even a small cabin in some places.

Getting out of CA would be a good move as others have suggested unless headed to the North. Please research weather extremes throughout the year for places you might consider.

Nothing is ever free. But you might find a ranch/farm where they need help and have property where you can camp - but utilities and sanitation will remain a basic issue.
 
the situation is clearer from me now.
If the reason you are looking for free places to live in an RV is because you have a limited budget, you also need to understand that an RV that is in good condition and large enough to house a family is also going to be expensive and you will need a heavy-duty vehicle to tow it.
 
Welcome to The Forum.

However, it appears to me that the OP is confused or was misled about the use and purpose of RV ownership. Plus, nothing is free. Couple that with expecting to live in two of the most expensive states to live in in the U.S., and things don't look promising.
 

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