All our listings need to offer legal overnight parking on a property that is owned or controlled by the Host. In some cases, street parking in front of someone's home can comply, but only if it meets the following conditions:
The Host must be able to "control" the parking space so they can reassure potential guests it will be available for them when they arrive.
They must know local parking ordinances and be sure authorities will not ticket the RV and neighbors will not put in a complaint to the authorities.
The Host also needs to state very clearly (on their website profile) that the parking space is on the street.
They should include a reminder about it again in the house rules section of their profile. This lets us remind guests about it before sending a request and lets them decide whether that will work for them or not.
We've made this exception because we have personally appreciated parking on the street when visiting friends in big cities like San Francisco and Los Angeles, where any type of overnight RV parking (free or paid) is difficult to find. We would not have presumed to park on the street if our friends hadn't encouraged and reassured us it was okay.
Especially in unfamiliar cities, having permission from the nearest homeowner is worth a lot, and much better than choosing a random residential street where signage looks good and hoping for the best. If the authorities did question you, at least you can explain that you're guests of the homeowner. You'll know your hosts by name and know they'll back you up.