yup, well it is a big issue, and as usual, the (apparently) easy and obvious solutions don't work out so well. I totally sympathize with all of those worrisome situations. I see a much better solution would be a proper minimum wage.

Seriously, for anyone who has a business and needs to pay anyone else, if they can't make a profit paying a wage such that a full-time job in that locale is above the poverty line and affording decent housing, then they do not have a business. What they have is organized theft. They are either stealing their employee's lives (poverty shortens life), or stealing from the govt (for their extra support checks).

Having a proper wage base would go far in allowing people to afford housing. Yes, it would push the price up, allow for more creation, etc.

I do think you have a key point there about the issues of price and commuting, and in was echoed in your point about the ppl looking for a place to camp. Making more housing available for poor people who cannot also afford the transportation to do long commutes every day does no one any good, especially when most cities already have massive transport problems. We need not just random housing, but housing near the jobs...