Homelessness as a problem always has to be scoped at the geographic level where freedom of movement exists. In the case of the USA, that's national. The strong

Homelessness as a problem always has to be scoped at the geographic level where freedom of movement exists. In the case of the USA, that's national. The strongest predictors of homelessness are population density, walkability, and climate. Homeless people move to places that have those and away from places that don't. There's a theoretical case for provision of services driving homeless migration to the cities that provide services, but it's silly to imagine "progressive" policies generally being the reason why people are homeless. In San Francisco, if you're priced out of your home, you don't end up homeless for years on end; you need severe mental health issues or addiction to account for that. San Jose and San Diego are hardly wildly progressive, but they rank near the top on homeless population.