![\"West](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/IMG_7345-1024x768.jpeg\")
Since last January when San Jose began a multi-pronged approach to clear live-in vehicles, the number has dropped from 960 to 385. Photo by Joyce Chu.<\/p>\n
\u201cSan Jose neighborhoods are seeing progress,\u201d Seamus Gann, spokesman for Mayor Matt Mahan, told San Jos\u00e9 Spotlight. \u201cThe (Oversized and Lived-In Vehicle Enforcement<\/a> program also known as OLIVE) helped reduce our major hotspots, and (the Supplemental Enforcement Program) builds on that work with faster citywide enforcement. We\u2019ll continue to pair accountability with meaningful offers of help so people have a path off the streets.\u201d<\/p>\n But many RV residents like Tania Silverman have not received help, and are pushed out of an area. Silverman has lost count of how many times she\u2019s had to move. The 39-year-old has lived in her RV for the past decade and is battling an autoimmune disease and diabetes. Not having a kitchen to cook her meals complicates her ability to keep her blood sugar in check.<\/p>\n \u201cStaying in the car is not healthy for someone like me,\u201d she told San Jos\u00e9 Spotlight. \u201cI get so overwhelmed with all of it, and I\u2019m just tired. I deserve a home just like everyone else.<\/p>\n She and her husband Eric are running out of places to park. Sometimes they can stay in a spot for a few months. Sometimes, a few days. They just relocated to another street in West San Jose after being kicked out of their previous location.<\/p>\n For the Silvermans and 22-year-old Jason, who is parked nearby, they are now experiencing encounters with cops almost daily.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen I started living in my car, I instantly started getting messed with by cops when I never really had before,\u201d Jason, who didn\u2019t want to use his last name for privacy reasons, told San Jos\u00e9 Spotlight. \u201c(I get) looked at differently by anybody and everybody.\u201d<\/p>\n San Jose wrestles with RVs<\/p>\n One of the catalysts for temporary RV bans began when the City Council in April 2024 set tougher RV restrictions near schools<\/a>. It approved three different policies to limit where large vehicles can park, where people living in their RVs can sleep overnight and how far encampments can be from schools.<\/p>\n Before widespread parking enforcement programs took effect last year, lines of vehicles were concentrated in downtown and East San Jose, along busy streets like Tully Road and residential areas like Las Plumas Avenue. One of the most impacted areas was in District 7, which encompasses parts of central and East San Jose, including the Little Saigon Business District.<\/p>\n \u201cIn District 7, residents have dealt with unmanaged lived-in vehicles, abandoned vehicles, illegal dumping, fires, blocked streets, and unsafe conditions,\u201d\u00a0 Councilmember Bien Doan told San Jos\u00e9 Spotlight. \u201cThe most common feedback we receive is that residents want these efforts to continue longer and reach more impacted areas. The (Oversized and Lived-in Vehicle Enforcement\u00a0 program) is not the final solution to homelessness, but it has given us an important tool to address the serious impacts our neighborhoods and small businesses face every day.\u201d<\/p>\n While the city keeps an ongoing dashboard<\/a> of what streets it\u2019s cleared and where lived-in vehicles exist, it doesn\u2019t track where these people move to. Some residents have simply traded RVs for tents, including one of Tania\u2019s friends whose vehicle was towed, leaving him on the streets. Others have scattered to\u00a0neighborhoods across the city.<\/p>\n Homeless advocate Gail Osmer said dispersing people from one place to another has been a waste of taxpayer money.<\/p>\n \u201cA lot of people are still outside,\u201d she told San Jos\u00e9 Spotlight. \u201cThe whole program to me was done only because of the Super Bowl<\/a> \u00a0and FIFA<\/a>. The mayor wanted to push all the unhoused out of San Jose.\u201d<\/p>\n A fraction were lucky enough to get housing, including those who lived at \u00a0Columbus Park<\/a>\u00a0which the city dismantled last year. It was the city\u2019s largest homeless encampment, where about 370 vehicles had congregated. Officials created an RV-buyback program, where those who gave up their RVs for shelter would receive a stipend. \u00a0The city worked for weeks to place some Columbus Park residents into motels it recently converted for shelter.<\/p>\n The clearing of Columbus Park was part of the first iteration of the OLIVE parking enforcement program. The city posted tow-away signs on designated streets at least a week prior to the sweep in coordination with the Housing Department. Streets marked as temporary tow away zones were published online so outreach teams had the ability to make contact with people ahead of sweeps.<\/p>\n \u201cThe OLIVE program is unique in that it was developed and funded with additional staffing and a specific process\/timeline that exceeds the warning\/notification and enforcement requirements,\u201d Department of Transportation spokesperson Nicole Ortega told San Jos\u00e9 Spotlight.<\/p>\n However, the city plans to lean on a strategy that cites vehicles without prior notification or engagement with other departments, according to a city memo<\/a>. Once a vehicle is hit with a citation, it must be moved within 72 hours before being towed.<\/p>\n The strategy targets RVs across the city, not just in the areas where vehicles are concentrated.<\/p>\n \u201cEvery time we get kicked out of a spot, we can\u2019t get help,\u201d Eric told San Jos\u00e9 Spotlight. \u201cWe shouldn\u2019t have to seek these services, they should\u2019ve already been there.\u201d<\/p>\n![\"In-line](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/interactive-321838904008.png\")
<\/a><\/p>\n