So-called urban camping — when people live in RVs or vehicles parked on city streets — has seen rapid growth in Bozeman, Mont., where residents are pushed out by the rising housing costs affecting many Western communities.
Bozeman, located in the Rocky Mountains about 80 miles north of Yellowstone National Park, has a population of about 56,000. City officials say the number of Bozeman residents living in their RVs or cars has increased 200 percent in two years, according to Montana PBS, which cites the city. Since 2020, the overall unhoused population has increased by 50%.
The increase in homeless residents comes as housing costs have soared. The median listing price of a home increased from $669,000 in early 2020 to $1.2 million in 2024, according to city data. Meanwhile, rental costs in Gallatin County, where Bozeman is located, increased nearly 19% from 2019 to 2022 and have continued to rise, leaving the county with the highest rents in the state .
“Homeless people have always been on the radar,” Bozeman Mayor Terry Cunningham told PBS. “It’s a recent phenomenon, with urban camping, motorhomes and more cars.”
Although homelessness has increased in the city since the pandemic, the increase in RVs and RVs on city streets has made the problem more visible, leading to tensions over how to address it. solve.
“First, these people are also our residents,” the city’s website says when discussing how it approaches urban camping. “Many of them contribute to the workforce, send their children to our local schools and may not appear as ‘homeless’ when you see them at their jobs and in the area.”
Bozeman residents are divided on whether the city has been too lenient in addressing this problem. In some places, the city has installed dumpsters and trash cans near areas where RVs are located to avoid littering and provide homeless people with a place to dump their trash.
A group of local business owners sued Bozeman last fall, arguing the city wasn’t doing enough to enforce existing laws that would prevent people from camping on public streets. Business owners say they have faced instances of theft, vandalism and harassment.
Residents also complained that some people living in their cars do so not out of necessity but simply to save money on rent, pointing to the presence of new cars and generators on some RVs, reported PBS.
Mayor Cunningham told the outlet that part of the problem is that the city can’t easily determine why individuals are living in their cars or RVs, and people aren’t required to disclose that information.
In November, the city implemented an ordinance aimed at limiting urban camping. It prohibits camping in the same place for more than 30 days without extension and also prohibits camping in front of certain places, such as businesses and schools.
The result was like playing musical chairs, people living in their RVs told the Bozeman Daily Chronicle, which reported that the city hired three people to enforce the ordinance.
“They’re making it harder to be homeless. It’s hard enough,” said Steven Ankney, who lives in an RV with his family. “I understand they don’t want us on the streets, but that will happen until they find habitable housing for us, or affordable houses for us, or places where we can live.”
The city says it is working to bring more affordable housing to Bozeman and is working with the nonprofit Human Resource Development Council to build a 24/7 shelter.
businessinsider
