Great piece! One thing to add is to look into why the anecdotes are pervasive. This data does a great job at distinguishing between the unhoused population and

Great piece! One thing to add is to look into why the anecdotes are pervasive. This data does a great job at distinguishing between the unhoused population and the sheltered homeless population. Where the unhoused are visible drives the perception. In California, the same is true, with unhoused being just the tip of the iceberg in the homeless population, the difference is where the unhoused are. In favelas and bazaars in the middle of very expensive areas. Strolling through highly trafficked areas of NYC you wouldnt make the broad reductive assumption that “New York has more homeless people”, whereas strolling through highly trafficked areas of SF/LA would be a complete culture shock. It is an interesting topic as it’s not clear how much people know everytime the topic comes up. Is a prologue about distinguishing between unhoused/sheltered before engaging further really useful? Hard to say