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RVs line a street near Google headquarters in Mountain View, California.

RVs line a street near Google headquarters in Mountain View, California.

Photographer: David Paul Morris/Bloomberg
Technology

An RV Camp Sprang Up Outside Google’s Headquarters. Now Mountain View Wants to Ban It

With house prices out of reach, where will the van dwellers go? 

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In a quiet neighborhood near Google’s headquarters last month, rusty, oleaginous sewage was seeping from a parked RV onto the otherwise pristine street. Sergeant Wahed Magee, of the Mountain View Police Department, was furious.

“You guys need to take care of it, like ASAP,” he said, lecturing the young couple living in the vehicle. “I’m not going to tow it today, but tomorrow if I come out here and it’s like this, it’s getting towed!” As he delivered the ultimatum, a self-driving car rolled past.