i was in san francisco last summer and i read something about how their liberal population lead to them somewhat taking one for the team in terms of the homeless/crazy population,since basically at a time when other cities were doing their best to get rid of homeless people san francisco had a reputation for not being so harsh on them,and also the liberal demographics there made it an easier city for homeless people to get by in,both in terms of being tolerated and services being provided for them.
i was also in sacramento,the capital of california,where appearently the local business heads at some stage in the nineties had an offer where any homeless person would be bought a one way ticket to anywhere in america so long as they promised not to come back. there were noticably less homeless people there,i also read that there was a similar initiative in atlanta before the olympics were held there.