RV Unfriendly towns

[MikeyInNY]

We went to Bar Harbour and saw many signs stating "No RV Parking".  So I was wondering if there is a list of places that were not RV friendly.  We will factor those places in our travel places to avoid.

 

[Foto-n-T]

I think that somebody will chime in here with the appropriate info.

We took a new route this year on our way to Texas and ran into the overnite parking bans a few times.  The one that chapped me was Van Horn Texas.  My wife was reading on the www about folks who had tested the signs and found that they got a citation in the mail when they returned home.

I've got to say that I really don't have a problem with the no overnite parking rules most of the time.  If I were a campground owner I certainly would not like having Walmart take money out of my pocket.  On the other hand I find it very unnecessary to spend $30-$50 just for a parking spot for the nite.

 

[Gary RV_Wizard]

It's not that Bar Harbor is unfriendly to RVs, they simply don't have any parking for them. Not much for cars either! But the net effect is the same - avoid it while driving the RV.

 

[Alfa38User]

Several years ago, the State of Maine Legislature proposed legislation to ban RV parking everywhere except in RV parks. There was a lot of bad publicity generated and, I believe, the proposed legislation was dropped before being introduced. However, some municipalities may have found that to be a good idea.

Similar rules are supposed exist around Naples FL but, from what I have seen, RV's still park in nearby Walmart's for varying lengths of time......

 

[Mopar1973Man]

Most of the state of Idaho is RV friendly.

Welcome to come to my neighborhood. 

 

[Foto-n-T]

From what the WX channel is showing I think I'll wait.

I think the noise from the snowplows would be annoying.

 

[Jeff3]

Bar Harbor has RV parking about four blocks from the water near the city park.

 

[taoshum]

Santa Fe, NM; it's not that they don't "like" RVs, well maybe that's true too, but the streets are super narrow, traffic is horrendous, and there is no place to park until you get to the edge of town where, conveniently, there are RV parks and Wally-Marts.

 

[Frizlefrak]

From what the WX channel is showing I think I'll wait.

I think the noise from the snowplows would be annoying.

That would do it for me.  Frostbite sucks too.    ;D

 

[MikeyInNY]

I guess I didn't state it correctly.  I know that Bar Harbour restricts RV parking because of the size of the streets.  They are not unfriendly to RVers, but it is not a good place to try to navigate with a RV.  There is parking out of town for RVs.  But I'm sure there are other towns that are narrow and RVers have difficult times getting around.  And I know I read some other posts where RVers stopped and the next thing the police were knocking on the door saying they need to move on.  I'm not talking about overnight parking, but stopping in the middle of the day for a break.

Its easy to say that all towns are RV unfriendly due to narrow streets, but if you find a place to park does that mean the police are targeting RVs?  That would be the type of unfriendly town I would avoid.

 

[bailer6334]

My vote is Morro Bay, CA.

 

[gkas]

My top vote is Santa Barbara, California.  We used to go to the Farmers Market when we used to weekend there, in between RVs. Once we tried to park the truck camper on the street to attend the market, it was next to impossible.  More and more signage against RVs.  It's like the wine country. We're snobs, spend your money, then leave. Now I refuse to stop there.

 

[motojavaphil1]

I have not been to Maine in years despite having a son and brother there.  In most of the towns the streets were narrow and crowded especially during the summer.  The Coast is visited by every Bostonian and New Yorker during the two months of summer and month of fall.  Maine's Legislature did have a look at RV overnight parking prompted by campground owners if memory serves me right.  Escapees and other RV organizations lobbied against it and it never went anywhere.  Someone mentioned Santa Fe and RV's.  Would not drive in that town with lots of tonnage.

 

[captsteve1]

Santa Fe??? I just was there, had no issues at all. It was mid-day stopped for lunch in town and picked up groceries. Traffic was a bit bad, but had no problems. The Grocery store manager had no issue with me leaving the RV in his lot during lunch and offered up a few nearby sight seeing ideas.

Drove thru there on the way to Bandelier Monument, A definite must see!! Dry camp, but awesome! The campground is on the top of the mountain and quite nice. Except for the noisy neighbors...Los Alamos National Lab. They set off bombs a few times a day!

 

[Rancher Will]

You might want to be carefull on this subject.

One of my employees was stopped in a Colorado town by a police officer and told that "large Rigs" are not welcome on that town's streets. He was pulling a 39 ft 5th Wheel RV on Colorado Highway through town that is also the Main Street. The officer gave him requjirements to drive out of town.

My wife and I had stayed in that town on a number of trips over the years. Not long after the experience of my employee, I was again there overnight. I met with the Chief of Police who also told me that "due to the congestion" his officers were instructed to discourage "big rigs". I pull a Montana 40Ft 5th Wheel and have driven through on I-70 many times but have never driven off I-70 on the Colorado Highway through that town' Main Street. So I have never been stopped there.

I posted this information, identifying the town, on a Montana Owners Web Site and received a number of slanderous, insulting, responses, including "references to my heritage" although I only posted it as information for anyone who might be intending to travel there just as some do about any hazzard. Naturally I no longer am a member of that Web Site.

 

[Foto-n-T]

So I was wondering if there is a list of places that were not RV friendly.

Let's look at this another way, "Is there a list of places that welcome RV's?"

Whether it's unfair competition with private campgrounds or congestion, there are some places out there that aren't the best for the type of vehicles we drive/tow.  On the other hand there are a plethora of towns that bend over backwards to accomodate RV's and through word of mouth they reap the benefits of income derived from thier actions.

We've found that there are quite a number of small towns or villages that have municiple campgrounds.  While traveling the back roads of Kansas we ran into more than I can remember, Montana also has more than its fair share as well as Louisianna.  The one that comes to mind that we've hit on more than one occasion is Brady Texas, a small depressed community located smack dab in the geographical center of the state.  The park is called Richards Park and has 50amp full hookups for $10 per nite, being only 70 miles from Fredricksburg if you want to do the traffic jam tourist thing you can be there in an hour or better yet another ten minutes puts you in Luckenbach.  Also, don't rule out church parking lots, although a Saturday nite arrival might not be the best idea although I'd gladly drop a ten in the plate for the convenience.

Although we "have" KOA'd (Kamp On Ashphalt) in China-Mart parking lots that have been posted no camping before with the permission of the security folks, I definitely would not appreciate getting a ticket in the mail a week or so later.  With a little prior planning and research you can easily avoid the possibility of a fine.  The problem many have (including me) is that we just keep pushing on telling ouselves that "Yeah, I'll be able to find a spot to stick this thing".

 

[hoozerman]

I recall being in Cortez, CO a few years ago and noticed signs in the WalMart parking lot saying a local ordinance prohibited overnight parking. I don't know if that is still the case, but it was the first time I had seen one.

 

[merc669]

New to RV'ing and getting closer to retirement and wife and me looking at selling everything and buy an RV. Not sure of type right now. So doing a lot of reading. Including places to stop and not stop. I ran across this page; http://gypsyjournal.net/Unfriendly.html , It lists towns there. Not sure of it but might be worth a look. Enjoy reading and writing down info I see here and other sites. Thanks and Enjoy!!

Bill...

 

[Wendy]

I recall being in Cortez, CO a few years ago and noticed signs in the WalMart parking lot saying a local ordinance prohibited overnight parking. I don't know if that is still the case, but it was the first time I had seen one.

The signs are still there, however, it's not enforced. The Cortez police have said that Walmart is private property and they will only chase away RVs if Walmart asks them to. Walmat, no surprise, never has and there are RVs parked in the lot nearly every night. We are an RV friendly city. We want you to come and visit, spend money and help our flagging economy !

Wendy
Cortez CO

 

[Jammer3]

I don't understand the premise of this post.  There are hundreds if not thousands of towns where you can't park an RV in the central business district.  A list wouldn't be helpful.

Many small towns in Minnesota have adopted a model parking ordinance that prohibits parking a vehicle in such a way as to take up more than one marked stall, either on the street or in any of the city-operated parking lots.

Major cities like Minneapolis and St. Paul are rife with parking restrictions.  In congested residential areas, you can't park without a permit and can't get one unless you live there.  In congested business areas, you can't park anything bigger than "car sized" without a commercial vehicle permit.  In riverside towns you can't park trailers in congested areas since otherwise the boat trailers will take up every foot of space on summer weekends.

Most of this is more common sense and various governmental units trying (albeit in a ham-fisted fashion, at least in some cases) to deal with a scarce resource than any sort of general anti-RV sentiment.