[pengaru]

> Real people, right now, are living in tents in the woods somewhere because that's all they can afford.

Living in a tent in the woods isn't even that bad, not if it's a real wilderness that can provide game for hunting and vegetation for foraging. You've just gone native, big deal.

But living in a tent in a concrete jungle is a completely different situation. There's no natural habitat to be had, the resources are all locked away behind commercial gatekeepers. When you try go native in an urban center you're for all intents and purposes becoming a criminal. Instead of picking berries and killing rabbits, you're stealing from vendors and/or residents.

I don't think tent encampments are appropriate for urban centers. The big SRO buildings always struck me as the tent encampment equivalent for an urban center. But even if you make those available to the homeless, you still need to give them access to some kind of currency as that's the key required for accessing resources controlled by the gatekeepers. Otherwise you'll just have a building full of thieves.