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There's lots of noise in SF about homeless folk "refusing shelter" and "They want to live in tents!" And that we should force them to accept the shelter against their own will, "for their own good!" Many SF folks rationalize their desire to not see homeless people, by convincing ourselves that refusing shelter is an irrational behaviour, and that we know better.
We don't consider the fact that people might be refusing shelter when that shelter is worse than a tent.
https://www.sfchronicle.com/projects/2023/sf-sro-empty/
1/N
The cruel way forwards, is to force people to accept these substandard, dangerous conditions.
The way of kindness, is to improve the conditions at the worst places, to the level of the units that people don't refuse.
And "reducing the bureaucratic delay" involves both simplifying the application process, and not *checks notes* throwing away homeless people's paperwork every few months in sweeps. "Still gathering paperwork" sometimes means reapplying for documents thrown away in a sweep. 
2/N
Periodic reminder that NYC has more homeless people, and more homeless people per capita, than SF. 
But NYC has more shelter spots that are suitable for human habitation, and a more efficient intake process, so has far fewer street homeless (tents etc).
https://www.coalitionforthehomeless.org/basic-facts-about-homelessness-new-york-city/
5% of NYC homeless people are unsheltered. 
Over 50% of SF homeless people are unsheltered
3/N
@mekkaokereke my belief is that in places where the weather will kill you, both sides are more motivated to make housing situations work, whereas a human can live outside in SF year round and exposure is not necessarily going to be a likely source of mortality. A year of living outside in NYC is not survivable without considerable equipment.
People believe this, even though the evidence doesn't support it at all. Cold cities don't necessarily provide more shelter.
https://hachyderm.io/@mekkaokereke/111364209716990945
And people live outdoors year round in New York, and places much colder than New York. Steve Wallis teaches homeless and unsheltered people how to "stealth camp" and how to survive in the cold. He frequently spends the night in cities, below freezing temperatures.