You touched on something I was thinking about. Statistics show a certain percentage of homeless choose to be so.
That certain percentage is near 100%. Even those who get disability checks or pensions - why waste that money on an apartment and all those bills? They want to keep all that money to buy the booze and drugs they want and have none of those annoying rules to deal with.
Most real shelters that have drug testing and strict rules almost always have room available; they want a hand out, not a hand up.
Many choose to, as it’s a dirt-cheap no-responsibility lifestyle. In that climate, with sufficient free money & services available, living in a tent is rather appealing.
Many don’t “want” to, but having ended up there find little motivation to actually exit the lifestyle. Sure a roof & bed is nice, but in that region it’s stupid expensive, vs a practically free tent in a comfortable climate.
Progressives just doesn’t grasp that a significant part of progress is an existential motivation to move away from a prior problem. Instead, they “progress” toward making it more comfortable/viable to remain in victim status ... then wonder why people are in that victim status.