[acabal]

I think SF is a bit of a strange case. I grew up and lived in the area for a long time. SF has the unfortunate confluence of very limited land, desirable living conditions that drive real estate prices sky-high, a core of super-wealthy people willing to pay those prices and more, and a culture of "hip-poverty" (think hippies and the kids you see today hanging out in Lower Haight) that lends itself to a more relaxed attitude towards the poor. Unlike cities with more land, there really is nowhere for people to go... just as you can't leave homeless on the street, you can't put them out on a raft in the bay. And buying the land for shelters is likely prohibitively expensive.

It's a homeless situation that I think is a little more complex than many other big cities face, and I don't know what the right answer to it is. But if people truly have no other place to go than the Civic Center sidewalks, I'd let them lie there for want of a better solution myself, just because the situation in SF is so particular.

Anyway, just kind of musing out loud.

[nickbp]

Another possible contributing factor: If I were homeless, I'd try to go somewhere with mild weather.