Can't get over how incredibly clean and bum-free Dallas is

[eschaton]

It's worth noting that New York state has been under court order to provide shelter beds for the homeless and it has done so successfully. Something like 95% of the homeless population stays in shelters overnight. This compares very unfavorably to California, where only 38% of homeless are sheltered.

So it's absolutely untrue that you can't just solve the issue through additional funding - if it's funded enough, the vast majority of the homeless will not camp on the street. Given the climactic differences, I don't think California would ever be able to get to 95%, but I think 80%+ is possible.