Los Angeles Bans Sleeping in Cars

Rina Palta reports on new restrictions on when and where people who live in the vehicles can park:

People who use their RVs and cars as homes will no longer be able to park within 500 yards of schools, day care centers and parks. The restrictions also prohibit parking on any residential street between 9 p.m. and 6 a.m.

The new regulations are controversial, especially with homeless advocates, who "say the scarcity of approved parking spaces makes it nearly impossible for homeless to use vehicles for shelter," according to Palta. According to a survey conducted the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority in January 2016, an estimated 7,100 people lived in cars in Los Angeles.

The new regulations raise several questions about how the situation will change for people living in their vehicles—as well as what residents living on streets that have commonly been occupied by these overnight RVs and cars should expect. The city is touting its housing vouchers and saying the new regulations will offer "an opportunity to do outreach to those living in their cars and offer them available services."