They're coming in from out-of-state. They get booted from Arkansas or wherever they're from and come here. The weather is nicer and our laws (or lack of enforcement) allows for and actively encourages it. Our politicians actively encourage it because we vote for it to display our virtue and "wokeness". Why go to jail for your smack in Ohio, when you can safely shoot up in Seattle or San Fran without fear of reprisal?

Most of the ones you see on the street are either addicted, mental or just plain real bums. The ones that have been displaced from income or job loss usually are back into some type of housing rather quick (figuratively speaking). Those are the sober ones that still have some pride and ambition to fix their situation and usually actively try to do so.

Further, you can't commit anyone against their will and haven't been able to since Reagan was president. You can't get em' off the streets even if you wanted to.

Lastly, this is our fault not theirs. To certain extents, "compassion" becomes "weakness" and weakness gets taken advantage of. It used to be that being "hard" or "soft" was a choice when dealing with the homeless. Since we've removed "hard" from the equation, the population has boomed because we can only be "soft" by default.