While I agree that people who "can" own/live in a house are making a choice to live in a van can "take up space", I think the amount of space used up by these people in nearly infinitesimal compared to the amount of space available.
So, I don't think this is really much of an argument against this life style. Also, they won't do this forever, long term it's much more stressful than people realize. Therefore making the amount of space/resources used entirely a non-issue.
It's not the space they take up, it's the fact that they're living in a way that the place they're living in wasn't designed for. My town has a parking lot where the #vanlife people park, and it smells like piss all summer because it's a parking lot, not a campground, and there's no bathrooms there. The actual campgrounds in the area fill up quickly, and people reserve in advance. The climbing routes, hiking trails, and other recreation facilities exist roughly in proportion to the available campsites. The #vanlife people are cheating the system by illegally camping, and using resources that aren't available. If the resources were available, permits would be approved for new campgrounds or residential development.
Individuals don't do #vanlife long term, but there's enough of them that there's a consistent rolling population and the space and resources they use are roughly constant.
You are sorting of making my argument for me. You are pointing out one single place in the entire world, and it happens to be near you. While this is unfortunate, it seems like a simple solution is to petition the local government for either porta-potties or enforcement of the law.
If the parking lot is not near you, not sure why you would care at all... If it's that bad, why would these people #vanlife there? It sounds gross.
For all we know they do that as well. This is a more general petition to the world at large not to behave like they're entitled to more just because #vanlife.
your expectations are incorrect, unless you think that people living in late-model mercedes sprinter vans that have been camperized by custom van outfitters count as poor people.
Your assumption seems reasonable. But all cultural changes disaffect someone, but it doesn't mean they are bad as a whole. And this cultural movement seems to be negatively affecting you in some way. There's an old saying that may be useful here, "if you can't beat them, join them."
Why not try living in a van for even just a week and see what is going on from their perspective?
I did this with homeless people when I was younger (I lived on streets for a few days while in college) and it changed my perspective on them for the rest of my life.
So, I don't think this is really much of an argument against this life style. Also, they won't do this forever, long term it's much more stressful than people realize. Therefore making the amount of space/resources used entirely a non-issue.