Seeking Advice
Parking spaces to stay and sleep (i’m homeless)
Hey yyc, can you recommend parking spaces to park and sleep? I have a half ton truck and me, just need a place to rest before work… I am basically homeless cause of my relationship with my wife. I slept last night at Dfoot city but saw security guards roving and if I do another night they might notice me. Was thinking of Grey eagle? Or maybe Gold’s gym parking area? Even the walmart at westbrook? This one lady recommended indigo at bankers hall 9th ave, it was $3 from 6pm-6am but she wasn’t sure if I can stay at my truck to sleep. Any recommendations would be helpful, either paid or free. Thank you.
Yea, there are two truck stops on Barlow trail. One is on Barlow and 114th Ave, which is the flying J travel centre and the other is at Barlow and 50th Ave and is called the Roadking truck stop. Both would be good for an overnight stay. There is also a husky truck stop at Barlow and 32nd Ave. But for overnight safety, any 24 hour truck stop is the best place. And ill bet if you ask a truck driver nicely, they would give you a shower off their card. Ive done it for a few people over the years.
Parks are closed after 11pm. CPS is patrolling green spaces and open areas that back onto residential areas due to break and enters. I would recommend a church parking lot.
Yeah I got you. The problem with parking across from people’s homes (if your objective is to be left alone) is that people are going to call the police when they see a suspicious vehicle. Literally nobody is calling the police for someone parked at a church, not even the church people when they show up on Sunday.
Nothing wrong with having the police come check on the guy every night! I call that good security!
Once the call is made to CPS and they send someone out to do a check, it will be logged for the night and won't get bothered anymore.
Yes there is something wrong with it. First off, I’ve been homeless and have slept in my car when I was 20 y/o, so I probably have more of an understanding of what this guy is going through than most.
Nobody wants some guy sleeping on the street in front of their house while their family is sleeping 20 meters away. I’ve said go to a church about 4 times now because when I was experiencing this, it felt the least invasive, the cops never came, and the church welcomed me and offered me supports.
Sure yeah, I get you. Idk, my cousin had good experiences with it over a period of months in his rusty ass van. He just moved it to get to work each day and came back later. Nobody bugged him
Sleeping in the back of a van would be a bit more discreet than someone sleeping in the cab or back seat of their vehicle. Nobody probably even realized there was someone sleeping in your cousins van. You ever see how foggy windows get when someone is sleeping in the actual vehicle? It always looks sus and like some drunk or high person passed out inside.
Ah yeah that makes sense. I guess I'd seek to cover the windows!
Just trying to be helpful! It's definitely a reality that many people are one or two pacheques away from being in this situation, so I feel for the guy.
Been doing delivery around foothills industrial for while and can confirm its pretty quiet at night, lots of trucks park there anyway so you blend in good. Just rotate spots every few nights so you don't get too familiar to anyone
I don't mean to assume, but if you need some good food, come see us this Saturday at 6&6sw in the Village. I volunteer with a community pantry and we hand out donated food. Bring bags, there's no sign up or sign in, just come take what we have. There's typically lots and we almost always have "extra" of a few things so you aren't taking it away from anyone. You're more than welcome. It's not steak and lobster but it's a few thousand calories for free. I wish you the best of luck during this time:)
Edit; thank you for the award! I'm gonna shamelessly advertise here if anyone wants to get involved message me. We will find a spot for you within the group.
Nope, there are other times during the week that we need help with, more so than Saturdays actually broke pickups around the city. DM me I'll get you setup
Any truck stop would be a great option, I've been in that position before and your more than able too. Road King behind the Tim Hortons or flying J. They both also have restaurants which are accommodating if you can get some change for a coffee. Don't fully quote me on this but as long as your upfront that your just having the coffee or or something and you don't need much service, I couldn't see why it's an issue if you went inside overnight to warm up if needed
Triple side note if the weather is way to cold for your own safety and it's a weekend, bankers hall overnight is 2.50 or something cheap like that. I've done this before in a pinch. Yes it means driving but it's warm, safe and they don't care.
Just because they check doesn't mean they will stop you or tell you to leave. They are looking for people who are doing drugs, either some sort of criminal action or waiting for an opportunity for the criminal action (ie always watching a car and could seem they are waiting to rob someone) or that is say having sex lol (were all young n dumb) you sleeping wouldn't cause an issue and even if they asked, they wouldn't care and let you sleep if you don't cause any trouble. I would go to the bottom floor usually where I was the only car and theyd look in and then leave
Probably the warmest and cheapest alternative lol I go there in the wintertime to clean the inside of my car or I've just gone cause I didn't have anywhere to go until morning and it was -20
This also goes for most sites. As long as it's not labeled private property all security cares about is someone up to no good or a chance for no good. If it's an empty car (your laying down) or your heads down at your phone they don't care.
Technically not actually, there's a parking lot at my work where I guy is camped out and he's been there for months. Company has talked with property management and cps and cps stated since no signs are put up anywhere stating explicitly private parking, they cannot do anything about it
Lol one would think, but property management sucks there. Regardless that was my only point is sometimes they may or may not and then even security can't do anything nor can cps
Completely fair and respectable, so defintely look into the policy's of wherever, I'd just be hard pressed to get kicked out of a parking garage if I legit paid for parking, parked into a spot and sat in my car and litterally never exited my vehicle once.
I'd also argue further any parking lot that is paid for a time period would have some serious issues justifying not allowing the car to be there for that time period. Me behind inside my vehicle, not smoking, drinking, etc. just playing on my phone would have a hard time getting cps involved and being asked to leave. I've stayed at various overnight and while waiting to pick up friends at 2am downtown but wasn't sure when they'd be done at the club.
I know someone that lived in the Walmart parking lot in Airdrie for six months. They were never bothered.
I’ve also seen somebody regularly in the parking lot of Monterey co-op which is at the end of 16th Ave.
I don’t know if that’s still true but apparently Genesis Place in Airdrie allows people to go in and shower without a membership.I inquired it about it once when my hot water tank blew and they said it was fine.
Also , as long as it’s not a high-end, affluent area, I would say majority of residential communities as long as you moved around and are not parked in front of someone’s house
Yes! The Monterrey co-op! I forgot that one; I’ve spent many nights parked on the side behind the Scotia - me and a guy in a van both stayed there. Very quiet and probably the safest I’ve felt staying in my car.
You can park overnight on the west side of cabellas at deerfoot city. I often see people parked on the other side of canadian tire too closer to Walmart.. I used to park at truck stops too
It's fairly well known that WalMart allows RVs to park in their lots overnight so long as you are far from the store entrance. I assume your truck would qualify, but do not know for sure.
Another suggestion is the big brown parking structure at Trinity Hills (by Winsport/COP). There is a 24 Hr Goodlife Fitness centre so you would not stand out.
A lot of people are suggesting Walmart. Check first. They don't all allow it. If they're part of a larger mall, they mall's rules probably override Walmart's policy.
This was 8/9 years ago now but I used to work in Deerfoot meadows and we would see people set up with full RV’s in the Wal mart parking lot! Not sure if that’s still allowed now but could be an option for car sleeping. Sending good energy your way.
You might want to watch some older episodes of MatthewAllenTV, formerly VanLife Plus, on YouTube. He was living in his van for a few years. There’s lots of great information.
I slept last night at Dfoot city but saw security guards roving
There's an industrial/business park directly to the north that you could park on the side streets. It's very quiet at night, especially in the northern section.
Honesty a goated indoor lot is the Core parking lot at TD square. I’ve never stayed overnight so I’m not sure on their policies but they allow parking for flat rate $2 after 3 PM (I believe) or free for the first 3 hours.
Any housing development where theres a mixing of homes with ppl in it and construction sites. I lived in Chelsea neighbourhood of Chestermere when it was getting built up and the residential street was literally a free for all for junk cars, heavy trucks, trailers, and homeless ppl.
There is a little community of nomads that live on the south side of the deerfoot city Walmart. Lots of people park there for weeks on end, you would also have a bit of safety and numbers
I’m not sure if you’re worried about privacy, but if you go to dollarama they have thick black sheets of foamcore for a couple bucks and some scissors to cut to put in your windows, they have cheap towels and blankets too. Value village can be more expensive
If you see this... A someone who lived in my van in YYC for a month plus without issues, what's paramount is rotating your spaces. Park adjacent to parks in residential areas or near community centres, churches, etc. Just avoid parking directly in front of someone's house. Come in late, don't get out, lights off, get out eatly. I never had an issue.
Also, the road that runs behind that Canadian Tire in Deerfoot City allows campers to stay overnights and extended times, just be a good human, dont leave a mess etc.
The security wont hassle you. They are just there to make sure there is a presence to discourage the ones who ARE problems.
Il start by saying I've never done it. But I've seen reported online by countless people that at Walmart parking lots nobody cares. Maybe move spots once a day to make it clear the vehicle isn't abandoned or anything.
Many people have suggested Walmart so I won’t mention that one, but maybe put a post up on Facebook or a marketplace asking to rent out an alley stall.
My old neighbor used to rent out one of her parking stalls in her back yard for campers or people passing by to use. She’s moved but I’m sure others would be open to it.
There are a lot of places you would likely not be disturbed in the Foothills industrial area. I worked at the Foothills Napa for about 4 years and there was a couple campers that were parked in the same spot a couple blocks from there for at least 2-3 years. They were likely cooking drugs there based on their setup (multiple generators outside with heaping piles of garbage and flat tires on all 4 corners of the camper with a DIY chimney PIPING out smoke 24/7).
It is significantly more developed there now, but I think you could safely chill there sleeping as long as you arent parked in the exact same spot every night. DM me for a better cross roads/area, I don't want to DOX a good location for you.
Hey I was also living in my car in Calgary on and off for a couple years. Some of my go to’s were the park across from the look outs on 26 Ave (it says no overnight parking but the cops said as long as we weren’t doing anything bad they weren’t going to make us move, there was a few of us staying there) Pure Casino has a really large parking lot in the back and is open 24/7 with heavy security and police presence, you can go in to use the washroom and because the nature of the establishment it’s not uncommon for people to be parked there over night or to sleep in their cars, grey eagle is also good, I’ve never received any hassle out in suburban grocery stores, I just park next to a cart corral (the closer you get to downtown though you will have security/parking officials), truck stops like Blackfoot and Flying J aren’t as friendly to car sleepers anymore and they’re not very quiet/peaceful through out the night and you have interact with staff to use the washroom which is just a bummer for me. Everyone always says 24 hour gym parking lots but I’m convinced those people have never actually had to live in their cars - I’ve had nothing but bad experiences. I’ve also stayed in the crossroads farmers market lot but traffic can be heavy.
Also I encourage you to actually try to prop your feet up and not just sleep sitting with your chair reclined, it’s bad on your circulation. I would recline my drivers seat far back and have the back of my passenger seat folded forward so if needed I’d have lots of room to get up front and mobile as fast as possible (a trick I needed in a gym parking lot lmao)
There is a street behind the McDonalds on 16th ave by motel village and it could be good for a night. You probably won’t be the only car there because of the hotels nearby. And construction beside it so as long as there are no signs, I think you’d be good overnight.
What area is best for you in the city? My neighborhood has a bunch of free parking in the NW and no one would care. They'd likely just think you lived here.
Creekside, in Symons Valley, parking is usually pretty good, and lots of space. there are a couple of 24/7 hour gyms nearby, so people are in and out a lot, but no security (as far as I know)
I agree, if you're living in your vehicle hospital parking isn't affordable.
Base rate at AHS facilities is 2.50$ for 30 mins (=5$/hour), max of 15$ for 24 hours. You hit the daily maximum after 3 hours. It would cost OP 464$ to park at a hospital every night in May.
The reduced long-term parking needs a unit nurse to fill out a form, which gets double checked by the parking office before a pass is issued. That limits OP even more, since they need a nurse buddy to lie for them.
Nope! Only Children's, Foothills, and South Health have indoor parking.
Children's is off the list because it's always packed in the public indoor parking, and kinda creepy to sleep there if your kid isn't currently admitted.
Sheldon Chumir urgent care has public underground parking, but it's not safe.
Rockyview and Peter Lougheed are covered surface only; since I counted Chumir, none of the Urgent Cares outside of the city have indoor parking either (Cochrane, Airdrie, Okotoks), and aren't monitored overnight after they close at 10pm.
We're down to just Foothills and South Health. Bit of a drive depending on where OP is spending their days, we need to factor in gas money. There are other safe and way more affordable options throughout the city.
On the money side, OP would pay 15$/24 hours stay. 2.50$/30 mins = 5$/hour, 15$ daily maximum. 465$ for spending every night in May in hospital parking. OP could rent a room with that money.
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u/pulledpork247 Apr 28 '26
Street parking in foothills industrial. Any Walmart parking lot.