So what's the point of this article? For years, The Mercury and homeless advocates have been using the talking point that ALL homelessness is caused by high rent. Everyone else who lives in reality has been saying a lot of these service resistant people are drug addicts/alcoholics. Now we have 80 people who have died on the streets, most by drugs/alcohol.

Sadly, I predict this acknowledgment of the actual cause of A LOT of homelessness will be short-lived and we'll once again be asked to believe that the dude living in a tent/RV down the street next to a pile of stripped bike frames with garbage and used needles strewn about is in his situation because rent is too high. Uh-huh.

@Misanthrope: That's a bit extreme, dontcha think?