If homeless people are happy on the street, why are there “In all, about 87,000 local families… on waiting lists at the four agencies that administer the Section 8 program in Orange County”?? If you need an apartment “Waits of six to 10 years are common. The basic bargain of Section 8 is simple and, often, cruel.” This is from an article in our own OC Register. https://www.ocregister.com/2016/10/05/no-voucher-no-vacancy-no-help-the-cruel-realities-of-section-8-housing-in-orange-county/

Most homeless people are from the area where they are trying to stay alive on the streets. EVERY city is impacted in California. Yes, some people might want to remain on the streets, but the reality is that 87,000 families are trying to get housing and there isn’t enough available in OC. The best way to end homelessness in HB is to get on board with permanent supportive housing and wrap around services for the cities AND Orange County. It costs taxpayers thousands of dollars more for someone to be living on the streets. Emergency room, police, clean up, city resources, etc., than for someone to have shelter or housing. I want my tax dollars to go to a permanent, humane solution, not be used for a hamster wheel of ineffective services.
https://www.ocregister.com/2017/03/08/price-tag-of-homelessness-in-orange-county-is-nearly-300-million-uci-study-finds/

Rent reality. The ‘good old days’ of low-rent apts in OC are long gone. My first studio  apartment in Huntington Beach was $250 per month. I could make that rent with a students’ part-time job. It’s almost $2,000 now for an apartment, again from the OC Register, “average asking price for an apartment in the county – $1,848 – is an all-time high, and 6.9 percent more than a year ago, according to a second-quarter survey from apartment tracker RealFacts.” https://www.ocregister.com/2015/07/16/want-to-live-in-orange-county-itll-cost-you-1848-a-month-for-an-apartment-an-all-time-average-high/

We have to get over thinking in the past. Economic realities have changed dramatically in ten years. We want people to work for less than minimum wage and then bus themselves in from Riverside for a crappy job in Huntington Beach that doesn’t allow them a living wage. Oh wait, people can’t afford to live in Riverside County now, either. “The average rent for an apartment in Riverside is $1,570, a 5% increase compared to the previous year.” “The average rent for an apartment in Moreno Valley is $1,499, a 3% increase compared to the previous year.” Horatio Alger is dead and gone. It’s time for us bury him deep in the ground and our consciousness, and to step up as responsible taxpayers and human beings, and fix this. We need to trade bootstraps for cruelty-free velcro. It’s about time.

https://www.rentcafe.com/average-rent-market-trends/us/ca/riverside/