MOAB
The Reality of Van Life Wages are high in Moab, but the cost of living is higher Rachel Fixsen
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indy Martinez has been coming to Moab during the summers to work since 2016. She’s nearing 65, and her husband is 70. Both collect disability, and both live out of their van. “There are good things and bad things that happen in Moab,” Martinez said. The wages in Moab are high, but the cost of living is higher. Maintaining daily routines while living out of a vehicle is hard, and there aren’t other viable housing options for people in her situation, she said. She likes the climate in Moab, but she feels her worth as an employee is undervalued. Martinez has worked for hotels and RV parks in Moab, cleaning rooms and cabins, doing laundry and helping with guest services. Though Moab businesses pay well, she has had fall-outs with a few employers. She’s been denied promised sign-on bonuses and given only part-time hours after being hired
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for a full-time position. Employees feeling expendable, combined with an impossible housing market, makes it hard for businesses to recruit and keep adequate staffing, Martinez said. “You can still look on the job sites,” she said of Moab businesses. “They’re dying for workers.” Social media posts and help wanted signs around town indicate that many Moab businesses do need extra help. Community leaders are acutely aware of the housing problem in Moab. There are some subsidized affordable housing options: the nonprofit Housing Authority of Southeastern Utah manages three apartment complexes and several other programs to help low- and middle-income earners obtain housing. However, there are usually long wait lists for all of those programs, and all of them require applicants to meet certain criteria to be
