> Most visibly homeless people in wealthy west coast cities are severely mentally ill

Is that _why_ they're homeless? And are you aware of "drug induced schizophrenia?"

> which local authorities are reluctant to do because there's no nice way to institutionalize people.

There are no _cheap_ ways to do it. There are _tons_ of nice ways to do it.

> so all types of housing are very expensive.

And you're speaking of an area that has weather patterns that are conducive to living outside.

> Neither of these problems has much to do with extremely wealthy people, or wealth inequality in a general sense.

Immediately? No. Proximally? Yes. Obviously.