becoming? it's been a pretty common thing for as long as I've lived in the area. I'm pretty sure a co-worker of mine is living in his benz. (He's real quiet about it.) same income range.

I know a few people who move here and discreetly lived in their car until they got a good job. I even know a guy who was a unix guy like me, who quit working with computers during the real-estate boom and became homeless in the crash. He's been living out of his car for a while, while looking for work.

As far as I can tell, the factors for success are

1. make sure it's not obvious you live in the van.

that is all.

I know of 2 Google van guys in MTV and the parent is not one of them. It's definitely a trend.