“Many RVers – I daresay most – are members of consumption communities. They don’t think of themselves this way, and certainly this is not what we usually think of as community but it is. In many ways an RV affiliation group is both more modern and more ancient than what most of us think of as a community.”

-Twitchell, Winnebago Nation, pg. 61

As previously stated, people have participated in micromobile lifestyles for different reasons throughout history. Some participated out of necessity, some as a form of elitist vacationing, and some simply as an activity of leisure.

But what of the permanent micromobile settlers? The ones who gather, who live alongside each other in their dwellings, who delegatepractical day-to-day policies together, all the while in some form of a micromobile establishment or another. These people have not assimilated by random- they are all seeking the same thing; a sense of community.

When we hear the word community, or at least when I do, we often think of it in the context of a town. One bounded by defined boundaries, perhaps focused around local government(s), where people live along side each other forming relationships and contributing to society.

Now it may be difficult at first to pair the idea of community with the idea of micromobility. When attempting to do this, stereotypical thoughts of a trailer park and the types of things and people associated with trailer parks may come to mind. But micromobile communities are so much more than the false notions society has of them. Micromobile communities are founded around the same principles that static communities are founded.

A community is defined by a group of people living in the same place, having characteristics in common, and a relationship to others formed by sharing goals and interests. The parameters of a community are not strictly defined by static bounds-in a sense they can be placeless.

There are many different types of micromobile communities, some of which are actually placeless.

This type of community comes in the form of a gathering, a temporary one bringing a wide spanning network, (a community of sorts), together in one place to celebrate, and well, gather. These rallies such as the Newmar Kountry Klub in Essex Junction or those of the Escapees organization are a point and place for the similar micromobile users annually. Many make the pilgrimage to these temporary establishments because they contain groups of people having characteristics in common, share interests, and have formed relationships based off of their similar lifestyles.

It is interesting to see how these micromobile communities are formed, static, temporary, or placeless. Some are formed by similarities of religion like the Jews on Wheels, Yehudim Al Galgalim. Some formed through sexual identity or gender like gay and lesbian club, Rainbow RV. And some are even formed solely off of the type of dwelling that you own, brand, make, model, or living preference.

Many of these communities are founded on certain principles and as they grow and flourish they proceed to change over time. A peculiarly interesting example of a flourishing micromobile community is found in the likes of Lazydays in Tampa Florida. At first glance the establishment seems comparable to that of the Stepford Wives of RV campgrounds. In fact, the tag line on their website reads, “You’ve got to see this place to believe it”, with large text boasting of how they are the World’s Largest RV Dealership with the Nation’s Largest Selection of RV brands. They are so confident in what they are selling that they offer a promotion where they fly patrons down to their Florida location and they drive their new rig home.

Now this seems odd to mention in a post concerning community but that is also what Lazydays is; a structured community offering incentives for change and growth, luxury to those who want it, and space for people to live. Within the community, there is an obscure system set in place that both divides the patrons into two types of customers, to put it simply; customers that want to have it all and customers that are happy with just enough. To become a customer that wants to have it all you must be willing to participate in a system of exchanges and upgrades of units to maintain a spot along the uppers. The uppers get a nicer clubhouse with a nicer bar with nicer free drinks and tend to have nicer units. Now this is the most simply stated way of describing Lazydays. They are not just selling their products, they are selling themselves.

The Lazydays model is one being replicated throughout the country. Twichell refers to the establishment as an RV Mecca and a Magic Kingdom of sorts. What is to draw from these varying types of micromobile community establishments is that they do not fall under the lens of the preconceived stereotypical trailer park. These communities mean something to people, they chose this lifestyle for a reason, they chose to affiliate in some way or another with a particular community, and they make these choices consciously.

This preliminary investigation gained insight into a reason people choose a micromobile lifestyle- for a sense of community. This does not however; answer the entire question of why micromobility?