Yes, on two (mercifully brief) occasions I have lived in a travel trailer. In the late 1960s, long before the word “homeless” was on our radar, that’s what I was. A caring friend offered me shelter in the tiny trailer parked in front of her house. In hindsight, I’m sure it was illegal.

But I was young, clueless, and optimistic. Not necessarily the situation facing our homeless neighbors today.

After a later stint in a legal RV, I am now blessed with a paid-off home and so much social capital that my personal chances of being cold, hungry or unloved are vanishingly small.

Still, it’s not hard for me to understand the fear my housed neighbors have of trashy trailers causing their property values to plummet, and fear of wildfire is something we all live with in Nevada County. In a world

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