So I'm confused. Are there people stupid enough to be making $117,000 a year (for a family of 4) who are homeless in SF? Because those people don't need money, they need a swift kick in the ass. If you're talking about people with legitimate mental health issues (IQ so low they can't be trained, PTSD, etc.) I agree they need help, but a tax refund (or even some stupid shelter) isn't going to cut it. We need to lose the stigma surrounding mental health in this country and start serving those who can't help themselves. That doesn't include the people capable of getting a job who are lazy, or (apparently) the people who have a damn good salary in most other parts of the country that want to live in a car where the weather doesn't suck. Pardon my french, but fuck those people. The AVERAGE household income in my state is ~$66,000. Ship the lazy fuckers here, they can probably afford to buy a house and quit shitting on the streets. Anyone else is going to be shitting on the streets whether or not SF taxes the rich.
I don't think that is the entire story. That is what considered poverty income, it doesn't mean you are homeless. Its just a stat. Like if you are going in now to the city making that income you probably can't afford to live there. Pretty much means with that income you can't live there because cost to buy a house or rent. Now here is the other problem, there are people there that can afford to live there and afford homes, otherwise you would have seen the shit crash. its just there are a lot of folks there making 200+ thousand. And also people that have been there for a long time just stay there.
I mean there is decent housing outside the city and stuff. That number just says if you made that much you likely can't live in the city! Plus they really don't have anywhere to expand either so space is limited and demand is high.