At the end of his day, Lucas Philips drives to his home overlooking Spanish Banks Beach in Vancouver, near some of the most expensive real estate in Canada.

He climbs out of his black Tesla and soaks up what he calls his 91裸聊视频渕illion-dollar view.91裸聊视频�

But Philips is no wealthy property owner. His home is a Vanguard campervan berthed in a beachside parking lot.

He spends most of his life on wheels, working as an Uber driver in his leased Tesla. He91裸聊视频檚 trying to get ahead, and lives in his 91裸聊视频渟weet motor home91裸聊视频� while taking online courses in the hope of getting a job in computer science.

Philips, who immigrated from Turkey five years ago, thinks himself lucky to share the view with mansion owners without draining his savings.

He91裸聊视频檚 a member of a community of Vancouverites living in vans, trailers and other recreational vehicles parked across the city.

Some, like Philips, use it as an economic strategy to cut costs as they plot a course to prosperity.

Others have opted for a nomadic lifestyle, and plan to move on.

But more people are sleeping in vehicles as a last resort, as they try to stave off full-blown homelessness in the notoriously expensive city.

Philips said in an interview in November that he used to pay monthly rent of $1,600 for a one-bedroom suite in North Vancouver. When his rent went up to $2,300, he decided it didn91裸聊视频檛 make sense.

91裸聊视频淭he rent prices are just skyrocketing and it91裸聊视频檚 really feeling not that great when you pay for rent with half of your income,91裸聊视频� he said.

So, he bought a van and started living at Spanish Banks in October. Side benefits to the savings were that it made him feel closer to nature, and he enjoyed the van community91裸聊视频檚 friendly vibe.

He said he hoped to move back into an apartment this year to better focus on his studies.

However, others have embraced life on wheels.

Retired Californian mechanical engineer Alex Mosson, 58, was parked last week at Spanish Banks in a beige recreational vehicle he called his 91裸聊视频渢iny house.91裸聊视频�

He offered wine from a rack as he prepared a pot of clam chowder, with bacon and sourdough bread fresh out of the oven.

Newly arrived in Canada, he was joined by girlfriend Massie McCloud, 52, a retired airline pilot who lives in Kitsilano. They were planning to spend a few more nights in Vancouver, then Whistler, then head for Mexico, where Mosson used to live. In March, they plan to return for a cross-Canada journey, said McCloud.

91裸聊视频淒on91裸聊视频檛 get other people jealous,91裸聊视频� interjected Mosson.

McCloud likened the RV to 91裸聊视频渁 giant backpack.91裸聊视频�

91裸聊视频淵ou have all your things with you,91裸聊视频� she said. 91裸聊视频淧art of the reason we are both excited about doing this trip is that we both had really confined lives for the last several years,91裸聊视频� said McCloud, who added that she is recovering from long COVID.

But not everyone on wheels has a choice.

Over several visits to Spanish Banks, many residents appeared to be living out of cars and pickups, ill-equipped for the purpose.

Their windows were screened with makeshift curtains for privacy, their back seats and truck beds packed with possessions.

The residents approached in these situations were more cautious.

November rain dripped off the face of one man as he made repairs to his white box truck, strewn in black graffiti. He declined to give his name for an interview, saying he found his circumstances humiliating.

Dean Kurpjuweit, president of Vancouver91裸聊视频檚 Union Gospel Mission said vans and trailers have become a way for some working people to stay in the city amid high conventional housing costs.

But the mission 91裸聊视频渨ill never advocate for living in vans as an alternative housing solution,91裸聊视频� he said.

91裸聊视频淲e buy trailers to go on vacations. 91裸聊视频� But nobody wants to permanently (live there),91裸聊视频� he said.

Kurpjuweit said his group had helped people move from recreational vehicles into supportive housing.

He said there is a difference between the 91裸聊视频渨ilderness experience91裸聊视频� of an RV, compared with cramped and inconvenient long-term life in the city.

Living for an extended period in a trailer in Vancouver is mostly due to the 91裸聊视频渞eality of the housing market here,91裸聊视频� said Kurpjuweit.

Local residents said in summer and early fall that hundreds of people were living in vehicles at Spanish Banks. Dozens were still there in the fall, even after the City of Vancouver started warning people to move on, although their numbers dwindled with the onset of winter.

There are other campers in less scenic locations, clustered near big-box stores or scattered on quiet side streets.

Keith Light, 76, used to own a home on Pender Island, a 40-minute ferry ride to Swartz Bay on Vancouver Island. But for more than half a year he91裸聊视频檚 lived in a recreational vehicle, now parked outside an east Vancouver Canadian Tire store.

In 2021, Light sold his island home to pay off debts. He said this week that it wasn91裸聊视频檛 until he91裸聊视频檇 relocated to Metro Vancouver that he realized housing costs were 91裸聊视频渢en times higher91裸聊视频� than on Pender.

He lived with a friend, who got 91裸聊视频渁 little tired91裸聊视频� of his presence after about a year, and he moved out in May.

91裸聊视频淪o, I got online and found this R.V. I got a pretty good deal on it, and it cost me $19,000,91裸聊视频� said Light, who lives on a monthly pension of $1,900.

He said it was comfortable but not a permanent solution.

For one thing, the van has no electricity. Light said two external generators had been stolen and the vehicle91裸聊视频檚 built-in generator didn91裸聊视频檛 work.

There91裸聊视频檚 also a sense of insecurity faced by most vehicle dwellers.

It91裸聊视频檚 illegal to park a large vehicle on the street or in parks in Vancouver between 10 p.m. and 6 a.m., including at Spanish Banks, although exceptions apply.

Vancouver Board of Parks and Recreation spokeswoman Eva Cook said in a statement that illegally parked RVs remain a 91裸聊视频渃hallenging issue91裸聊视频� in many communities.

Since October, 47 notices reminding owners of parking rules were issued and most vehicles parked overnight at Spanish Banks had moved, she said.

Cook said it was still working to 91裸聊视频渆ducate91裸聊视频� users that overnight parking isn91裸聊视频檛 allowed in parks.

Paul Kershaw, a policy professor at the University of British Columbia91裸聊视频檚 school of population, said many people living in vans are 91裸聊视频渏ust as smart and as hard-working91裸聊视频� as homeowners.

But some have been born too late and are now locked out of Vancouver91裸聊视频檚 real estate market or are facing prohibitive rent on even a one-bedroom apartment.

Vancouver remains the most expensive place to rent in Canada, with the average price of a one-bedroom apartment now going for $2,633 per month, according to the National Rental Report issued last month.

Saving up for a home is also out of reach for many.

91裸聊视频淚n the mid-91裸聊视频�70s, it took the typical young person five years of full-time work to save a 20 per cent down payment on an average-priced home. Now it takes 17 years,91裸聊视频� said Kershaw.

Jenny Tan, a city councillor in Maple Ridge, east of Vancouver, is all too familiar with the region91裸聊视频檚 high housing costs.

She used to live in Vancouver91裸聊视频檚 West End in a trailer, an experience that compelled her to get into politics to try to make things 91裸聊视频渁 little more affordable.91裸聊视频�

91裸聊视频淚 will be super honest, if I had a choice, I wouldn91裸聊视频檛 be doing it for fun,91裸聊视频� she said.

She lived in her trailer for three years as 91裸聊视频渃heerfully and optimistically91裸聊视频� as she could, equipping it with a projector and hosting board games with friends.

91裸聊视频淏ut look, I wouldn91裸聊视频檛 have chosen that if there was a one-bedroom apartment that I could rent somewhere,91裸聊视频� said Tan.

She said she ended up in a trailer in 2017 after doing 91裸聊视频渁ll the right things in life91裸聊视频� by graduating from university and landing a decent job.

With money tight, living in her trailer was better than paying rent. But the downsides outweighed any sense of fun.

91裸聊视频淟iving in a trailer, you are constantly in fear, stressed about losing your spot, about the bylaw officers,91裸聊视频� she said. 91裸聊视频淔or the years I lived in my trailer, I had no hot running water.91裸聊视频�

Tan eventually moved into her parents91裸聊视频� house and considered her trailer life a learning experience. 91裸聊视频淏ut it was not the thing I would have chosen,91裸聊视频� said Tan.

In east Vancouver, Light agrees.

Living in an RV is better than sleeping on the street, but what he really wants is a permanent home.

He said a renter should have to pay no more than 30 per cent of their income to put a roof over their head.

91裸聊视频淚91裸聊视频檓 really, really hoping that I can get a bachelor suite or one-bedroom in one of these subsidized housing units in Vancouver,91裸聊视频� said Light.

He said he spent a year on the waiting list with BC Housing.

91裸聊视频淏ut unfortunately, the only way the places come up are basically when somebody dies. And that91裸聊视频檚 pretty bad. That91裸聊视频檚 also a sad thing.91裸聊视频�

91裸聊视频擭ono Shen, The Canadian Press