Not familiar with this source BUT drugs play a large part...
Around here there are two big factors
- affordability crisis
- drug addiction
The affordability crisis is ultimately one that's easier to see a path to solution. The county is looking into buying land that would be long-term leased, changing zoning for higher density and developing off-the-shelf small home plans to avoid design and engineering costs. These all seem like smart solutions to get families into houses. EXCEPT when they're alcoholics or meth addicts... and that's a huge problem here.
I used to talk the a homeless guy a lot in Berkeley. He would stand in the rain begging for 12 hours and I would think, "Wouldn't it be easier to have a job?" The guy would literally put in 60-70 hours weeks. But then, he'd go on a bender and disappear for a month, come back looking like crap, and start begging 60 hours a week again. He had an incredible work ethic. But he was addicted to alcohol, and that meant that about twice a year he would take an action that no regular employer would tolerate. Thus he was jobless and homeless, even though he typically "worked" as many or more hours than I did.
