So you are saying the high cost of living has little to do with homelessness? Interesting. So all these homeless people could potentially afford homes in Seattle (I know I can’t) if only there weren’t the welfare programs and permissive policies that hold them back?
I certainly can’t blame homeless people and addicts for being drawn to environments where they aren’t treated as much like criminals as they might be elsewhere. If you make addiction and homelessness a crime then you will likely be pretty effective at getting them to leave town, but then they are humans after all and they do have to go somewhere. They certainly won’t go to small towns or rural areas where there is limited transportation or social safety net. These people are the left behind of our society and their tragic lot in life shouldn’t be considered a crime. They need assistance not arrests, fines, and jails. However if a city chooses to persecute them I’m sure that city can shortly be rid of all their unpleasantness as they will move on to somewhere else so you don’t have to look at them and you don’t have to think about how much your fellow man is suffering.