America’s first homelessness problem: Knowing who is homeless

I sometimes wonder how much of the homelessness problem is a result of 1) the demise of boarding houses 2) the demise of the rented room/boarder, it would seem that there was historically a way we housed those that couldn’t afford a place of their own, but it seems through a combination of societal mistrust, and zoning, we’ve done away with an economical and more dignified way of living vs living in some makeshift abode (one’s car/tent/rv)