Have you ever “camped” in an urban setting for an extended period of time for the purposes of being there when an event happened or tickets to an event were sold? I remember being first in line in Seattle two and a half days before the opening of “Return Of The Jedi”. I had a small pup tent and a sleeping bag, a small radio/tape player to play geeky songs for the others in line, and I got interviewed by the local news stations. I even got a few free meals from the Burger King a half block away.
In recent years my family has camped out overnight on the streets of Portland to stake out a place for the Rose Festival Parade. Anybody else have adventures along those lines?
It’s been a long time (1973?) that some hiking buddies and I spent the night in the parking lot at the Visitor Center for the Great Smokies waiting for the office to open so we could get permits to do some hiking/camping for the next few days.
Other than that, no.
Are you counting those Dopers who live under bridges? 
No, and neither am I counting the homeless.
Well then, nevermind.
The closest I’ve come to urban camping is spending the night in a parking lot for Springsteen tickets…and what a fiasco it was. We were at a Yes concert and they announced that tickets would go on sale the next morning. We drove directly from the show to stake out a place in line. At 1AM we arrived to find about 50 people already there. Even so, we came away empty…a bunch of BASS (Bay Area Seating Services) employees picked that show to skim tickets off the top before they officially went on sale. Boy were people pissed off! It was a major story that led to a bunch of people getting fired.
How many tickets were left for those in line?
I camped in Greenbelt Park one weekend in 1989. While it is most certainly in an urban area, the park itself is kind of nice.
I spent a fair amount of time camping out in parking lot at Grateful Dead concerts. I used to go every year to the Ventura County Fairgrounds and see all 2 or 3 shows. It was really one of my fondest memories. A little hippy village would spring up and you could buy food, beer, drinks at mini-bars and various sundry items.
I’m talking about sidewalk/parking lot camping for an upcoming event.
Not many. After the doors opened, the line started moving but only a few people came out with tickets in hand. Then the line stopped moving and people were coming out empty-handed and angry. We stuck around for about 45 minutes until it became obvious that they had sold out. I ended up getting tix from a co-worker, even up in the nosebleed seats it was a great show. (this was the Born In The USA tour)
Update: Portland, Oregon is holding the Rose Festival Parade this morning. Last night I went downtown with a friend, and 4th and 5th Streets were once again lined with little pup tents and lawn chairs. It looked like 2 8ft. wide and 2000 ft. long campgrounds on the 4th of July.