[e40]

Yes, it happened in the 80's. I was in Berkeley, CA from 1980 through the end of that decade and the uptick in mentally ill people in Berkeley was staggering. The place was politically friendly and has nice weather, so it was a magnet for people just having been released from institutions, when they didn't have somewhere else to go.

And, of course, police departments all over the country have been sending their homeless and mentally ill to CA and Berkeley for decades, as well.