[Extremely Extreme Extremist]

Doug, the root cause of homelessness in CA is due to their strict building and zoning codes, NIMBYism, and environmental mandates. Not to mention laws that favor tenants over landlords. That dries up supply of affordable housing.

[onedoug]

Not to mention just plain bums and the mentally ill.

[doug from upland]

That is part of it, but only a small part. In 1972 I got a teaching credential, got a starting salary of about $9,000 and bought my first of many houses in Claremont, California for $18,000. INOTE: I taught for 5 years to pay off my student loan and then jumped into the business world. Later, I taught real estate law and econ for 10 years at the college level.) That first house cost double my first year’s salary — $18,000. Today, it is worth over $625,000 and a starting salary for a teacher in the area is around $48,000.

So my house was double the yearly salary. Today it is worth 13 times the starting salary. Rents have also increased dramatically over the years, much faster than have wages. That is the problem.

Supply and demand. What would happen if millions of illegals went back home? Prices and rents would drop, perhaps substantially. But, of course, there would be other economic consequences, some of which might be quite a problem. Revenue from property tax would sink dramatically as taxation is re-evaluated per Prop 13. Jobs in the building industry would at least temporarily go away because we would have an oversupply and they could not sell their product if they built it. People under water in their homes might walk away and there could be massive foreclosures.

[BookmanTheJanitor]

It also doesn’t help that (in a lot of places) the homeless have more rights on public property than citizens have on their private property.

[familyop]

"Doug, the root cause of homelessness in CA is due to their strict building and zoning codes, NIMBYism, and environmental mandates. Not to mention laws that favor tenants over landlords. That dries up supply of affordable housing."

It won't go on much longer. Do you see? Then we'll see about who the real bums are.

[ProtectOurFreedom]

Many other reasons to add to your list. It all comes down to horrible Democrat governance.

Highest taxes in the nation spent on crap like the high speed Choo Choo to nowhere which will never be completed and has ZERO value ($100 billion). Things like bogus "global warming" that make energy cost more than the rest of the nation. Things like shutting down all the nuclear power plants in the state. On and on and on...

See Why is liberal California the poverty capital of America?.