No room for RVs in gentrifying parks

[Rick]

https://www.rvtravel.com/no-room-rvs...rks-rvt-1077b/

[jasin1]

The koa we stayed at in the keys has developed some of the campground into a motel / condo.

In MD there has been a push to change zoning and convert private marinas to allow building condos..kicking out all the people who kept their boats and making way for luxury condos with their own slip.

i’ve noticed lately a lot of private campgrounds have sold out to sun outdoors and other similar large entities

[NH_Bulldog]

A place that we really enjoy going for a quality and quiet camping experience was recently sold to Sun Outdoors. While we were there over Columbus Day weekend we watched as a large group of well-dressed people with clipboards, notepads and tape measures made their way through the park. I fear that they are scheming how to squeeze more sites in, what trees to cut down, and ruin what has been a great park by turning it into a cookie cutter high density pack ‘em in and take their money kind of place. I hope I am wrong but I have seen it happening all over.

[JRTJH]

There is no "excuse" for the changes we see in campground/RV parks, but looking at the reality of today's economy, it seems inevitable.

Just like every one of us, as our "home operating expenses" increase, so does the cost of owning a RV park.

We've just had a thread about "how much isthe max you'd pay for a campsite"...

For the campground owner, if customers won't pay more for each site, the only alternatives are to either build more sites within the campground or close the doors and go out of business.....

While I can understand their situation, it's not an easy pill to swallow, but I think we've only started down the path of evolution in RV parking facilities that used to be "campgrounds"..... I fear we're nowhere close to seeing the final results yet to come in the need for consolidation of suburbia in RV camping.

[dutchmensport]

The only way we (the average person) can fight back against such "progress" is to simply not support it. If a campground (or for that matter any business) changes it's format, then nothing says (we) the people have to patronize them any more. Granted, someone else may do so. If so, let it go. There's always going to be suckers who have more money than brains and brag about how marvelous it was to go camping. Just to find out, their idea of "camping" is a 5 star resort that just happened to put up a glamping tent.

No, the power is in YOUR pocket book.

Now, go back in time a few years and I suppose when State Parks were set up primarily for no-electric, no-water tent camping only, and then the State Park system decided to install electric and water for upcoming RV's.... I imagine those tent campers had the same attitude about OUR arrival as we do about gentrifying.

[wiredgeorge]

Originally Posted by dutchmensport

The only way we (the average person) can fight back against such "progress" is to simply not support it.

That place in the article said average cabin rent was $450 a night? Not too difficult to believe that I won't be supporting such a place. Guess there are folks who wouldn't flinch at those prices but if I wanted to stay in stick/brick, well "I'll keep the light on.".

Many of the campgrounds in my neck of the woods also rent cabins and these are usually overrun by mom n pop, sil n bil and 32 little rug rats as a camper wouldn't be much fun with that sort of a gaggle. For instance, Old River Road RV Resort cabins cost for in-season is $630 for a week. That is what? $90 a night... I could see that if the situation dictated but I guess there ain't as many upscale zillionaires around this area as the $450 a night cabin place.

[sourdough]

Those places listed in the article were older, needed upgrading and, most importantly, were in high traffic areas that would support those kinds of efforts, expenditures and the types of clientele they are looking for. For us those areas aren't where we go nor want to go - kind of like going to a place that has a huge Jellystone sitting out there but there are 2 dozen other smaller, nicer (to an everyday person) places in the area. What those places are is really a "citification" of a country experience for city folks.

As far as RV parks in general, yes, they are changing as well but not like that particularly. Due to daily costs increasing so much most have raised rates. Some are expanding, some are increasing the number of sites within the confines of the original boundaries....whatever seems to work for them where they are. On this trip we abandoned a park we had stayed at for several years due to their attempts (new owners) to capitalize on the explosion of RVrs and what amounted to "ripping folks off" to me. Another has basically completely automated their reservations, check in, check out. You never see or talk to a person. Yet another, near where we stay here in FL, was sold a couple of weeks ago. It was a golf and RV resort - not fancy but had the basics w/clubhouse about 30 golf carts etc. It was purchased by an investment firm from Tennessee. Drove by going to Tallahassee Sunday and there was a big sign that said "Golf Course Closed" on it. No telling what their plans are for it but I'm going to be watching it.

Change is inevitable as the "old timers" know. Will all the RV parks become the ritzy, glitzy, citified "camping experiences" cited in the article? I doubt it (certainly hope not). Will they get more congested and expensive? I figure so.

I told DW at the outset of Covid and watching the explosion in RVs that I should buy a tract of land and make an RV park....I decided against that as I'm too old and the pressure I used to thrive on now makes me sleepy. But in our neck of the woods those RV parks are being built daily but not for a "camping" experience. They are to house workers, those displaced from homes that can't afford a s&b etc. They clear the land, throw down 20-30 acres of gravel, put in the utilities and call it an RV park; I'm afraid that may be more and more of what the options become as we move into the future.

[JRTJH]

Originally Posted by sourdough

...

But in our neck of the woods those RV parks are being built daily but not for a "camping" experience. They are to house workers, those displaced from homes that can't afford a s&b etc. They clear the land, throw down 20-30 acres of gravel, put in the utilities and call it an RV park; I'm afraid that may be more and more of what the options become as we move into the future.

Same thing happened in Louisiana in September, 2005 (the month after Katrina). Back then they were called FEMA communities... Now, "campgrounds" Names change to protect the innocent ??????