For years, America’s homelessness debate has been dominated by cautionary tales. The sprawling tent encampments of Los Angeles and San Francisco have become shorthand for urban decline. Those and other cities, particularly on the West Coast, spent billions to combat the problem yet have still seen dramatic growth in homelessness. 

As troubling as the sheer numbers are, the problem is compounded by a lack of behavioral standards in these cities. Thousands of people are allowed to camp, openly use drugs, and panhandle aggressively. The result is not mere poverty but disorder—creating permanent skid rows in certain sections.

But while these cities dominate headlines, others across the country are getting this issue right—showing that homelessness can be reduced, sometimes dramatically.

To understand who is succeeding, it’s important to define what “success” actually means.

The first definition is straightforward: cities that restore public order. These places rely on clear anti-camping ordinances, consistent policing, and sometimes even privatization of public space to allow for stricter rules. The goal is to avoid normalizing street living.

The second definition goes beyond quality-of-life maintenance. Some cities don’t merely push homelessness out of sight; they build systems that transition people into stable housing and help them regain independence. Their focus is on permanent exits from homelessness.

A third, emerging category focuses on prevention, using market-driven housing supply and other policies to push homelessness down to “functional zero.”

The Enforcement Model: Cleaning Up the Streets

To understand enforcement, it’s helpful to think about incentives. Why does a homeless person encamp in one city versus another? It’s not just about weather or shelter beds, but whether the behavior tied to homelessness is tolerated.

Some cities allow vast encampments where anything goes. Others simply don’t.

This enforcement happens at the most granular level in America’s thousands of HOA communities, almost none of which have........

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