Not easy to move during lockdown
It’s allowed, but residents can struggle with deliveries
Under the Bay Areawide shelterinplace orders, moving and delivery services like UHaul are allowed, but not required, to operate.
As a result, Some Bay Area residents have been left in the lurch.
David Crook was in a less than ideal situation paying rent on two San Francisco apartments. Then the shelterinplace order hit.
Crook and his wife were planning to move from the Mission to lower Pacific Heights on March 25. They had moving van parking permits from the city, movers scheduled, and arrangements with PG&E and Xfinity to switch service.
That’s when “all hell broke loose,” he said.
The city canceled the moving van permits. The movers said they would still come, but Crook didn’t know if it was a good idea. Meanwhile, the couple was juggling two landlords — seeing if they could stay in their old apartment while holding a place (ideally rentfree) in the new one.
“This is beyond anybody’s ability to plan ahead for,” Crook said.
Crook, like countless others in the process of moving into, out of, or within the Bay Area during a pandemic, was stuck in limbo. The public health orders don’t specifically prohibit moving, but do tell everyone to stay home.
The San Francisco Department of Emergency Management has since clarified that Bay Area residents can still move. If their movers are willing, the workers should practice 6 feet of social distancing and sanitation as specified in the order.
“Residents do not need to cancel their moving plans — they are free to move. But they should follow social distancing and we strongly recommend selfisolating when they arrive at their destination to not put others at risk,” a city representative said in an email.
Scott Snow is helping his girlfriend move into his place in San Francisco in order to avoid paying two mortgages. He already stored his old furniture and ordered new pieces from West Elm to be delivered to his house. On the company’s website, it says stores are closed but deliveries are still happening. But when he spoke to a customer service agent on the phone, he was told dropoffs were delayed in the Bay Area until the shelterinplace order lifts — although they are legal.
In the meantime, Snow has been sleeping on the floor.
“I think she’s going to move
“I’ve got two kids and it’s a small house and now we’re in a room with no furniture.”
Scott Snow, whose girlfriend is moving into his S.F. home to save money
anyways and she’s going to sleep on the mattress on the floor. It stinks. There’s bigger problems even for me in the world right now. It’s materially problematic for us. I’ve got two kids and it’s a small house and now we’re in a room with no furniture,” he said.
Snow was also frustrated by the inconsistency in delivery services. While he was able to order an enclosure for his son’s rabbit and a new litter box for his girlfriend’s cat on Amazon so the two animals could live in peace, he doesn’t yet have a bed.
“The uncertainty, just like it affects businesses, it affects personal decisions as well,” he said.
Snow subsequently received a message that deliveries were restarting and he would get his new furniture by March 31.
West Elm, owned by Williams Sonoma, didn’t respond to a request for comment.
Crook and his wife decided to go ahead with the move on Wednesday because they can’t afford two rents. They plan to load essentials like computers, food, cleaning supplies and medicines into a UHaul and take it to the new place before the movers arrive.
They’ll then leave the new apartment before the movers arrive to place the heaviest items — a bed, armoire, bookcases and desk. Those will sit for days, in a quarantine of sorts, before being cleaned and positioned.
Everyone will wear gloves and masks.