Just as an aside, I don't know the stats for SF, but in Seattle the "invisible" homeless outnumbered the street-homeless 2:1. Street-homeless people tend to cause the most problems and put the most strain on the system, but there are a lot more people sleeping in cars, shelters, temporary housing, and couchsurfing, who are still homeless and need help.
I honestly think SF and Seattle need to be tougher on the street-homeless but IMO it's important to remember that there are a lot more homeless people than the obnoxious ones. Those are just the ones you notice, because they are obnoxious.
Its funny you should say this, I have a sibling comment providing an anecdote about my (non obnoxious) [generally perceived] homelessness in San Francisco, while currently living in Seattle (well Vashon Island). Generally I get the a little lacking vibe in Seattle then San Francisco. Never having lived without a house in Seattle I feel like it would be similar except for the superior weather in San Francisco. I also doubt that I would be able to find as welcoming neighbors in Seattle as I did in San Francisco (although that is just a speculation).
To be honest I think there is a bit of semantic trickery here by homeless advocates. In colloquial parlance, “homeless” means “unsheltered” rather than “lacking a long term living arrangement”.
If you look at the link I posted below, people living in shelters and transitional housing and cars (not couch surfers which I think were not counted) still outnumber those sleeping outside.
Again, the people sleeping in homeless shelters are still homeless, you probably just don’t notice them because they aren’t causing trouble
Do you have a source for the 2:1 ratio in Seattle? I ask not because I think it’s false, but because I was looking for similar data earlier and couldn’t find it.
I honestly think SF and Seattle need to be tougher on the street-homeless but IMO it's important to remember that there are a lot more homeless people than the obnoxious ones. Those are just the ones you notice, because they are obnoxious.