Yea it's a sad situation all around :/ In my experience, many (most?) of these people suffer from extreme addiction and/or severe mental illness. While I definitely feel for them, the current situation is untenable and creates an air of constant ambient anxiety for the rest of the city trying to move around. I could see clearing encampments being a net-positive for most. But to truly solve this problem, I feel like society must first address why so many people feel hopeless in the first place. Perhaps Bitcoin demonetizing housing and creating better conditions for general prosperity will help in the long run. I can't help thinking, however, that there's something else deeply ill in the American psyche as I've never seen this sort of homelessness in other countries where I've lived or visited.