It seems unlikely to me that the homelessness problem in SF has anything at all to do with high housing prices. It's certainly not software engineers living on the streets, and I'd bet that even the people that work at Starbucks in SF have homes, even if they're crappy apartments shared with roommates outside the city.
How do you get a job at Starbucks starting as a homeless person though? It could be a hill too high to climb out of, not only purely economically, but socially. For example, how do you convince an employer or prospective roommate to give you a chance when you're a homeless alcoholic without an address?
The thing is, it's not just giving someone a chance, it's giving someone a chance at the expense of someone else. It's simple to hire the optimal person, it's impossible to decide who should get to be employed in the grand scheme of things.
Doesn't it seem likely though that if your landlord only has a $50/mo mortgage, it would be more likely that even really poor people could afford the rent.
