This is about you Steele!

I really liked how the article described how access to the internet had changed the nature of being homeless. Makes me think of the Republican attitude of "They own a smartphone so they are not really poor."

One of the things I'd like to get a better understanding of is how many of these folks are homeless by choice, and how many are homeless due to circumstances beyond their control (mental illness, etc.). My sense is that, regardless of what sort of social welfare programs you have, there is an irreducible minimum of folks who will want to live rough. I've spent a lot of time in Denmark, which has a very good social safety net compared to my native USA, and you still saw folks there who were homeless, though far fewer than back home.

I can sort of see the appeal of the Hobo life, but I am far too risk-averse to follow that path. I hope to spend some time traveling the country with a much simpler lifestyle when I retire in a few years, but it will be in a car with a camping trailer attached and a credit card that can get me out of any problems that might arise.

There are a lot of people who can work and do work but still can't afford to pay rent in places like the SF Bay area or greater NYC. I suppose they could move to places with more affordable housing but more limited job opportunities ('Welcome to Walmart').
Would that be considered circumstances beyond their control?

I think that would be beyond their control right now, but the high rents are are due to government policies that limit the number of new housing starts and prevent more dense forms of residence from being built. One could imagine a different government policy that made sure there was more affordable housing in cities like SF and NY.

As for moving to a cheaper place to live, the problem as you say is job opportunities. The town where I live in rural Oregon has far cheaper housing than in the Bay Area where my sister lives, but you are hard pressed to earn a living wage here unless you work for the government like I do.

That's not the whole story. If making smaller housing units that were affordable were profitable, it'd be done. Ironically, it'll probably have to be government-mandated as right now most developers are busy in the areas you named making luxury accommodations for wealthy people who see them as an investment instead of actual housing.

Not to mention that "government" in many of those cases is "the voters voting to not have more stuff going up and crowding out what's already there."

Vagabonding, vandwelling, Digital Nomad-ing, and #VanLife is becoming rather popular, but there's still a hefty amount of people out there who are not doing it by choice. I ran into a guy last weekend that was newly homeless because he was having trouble finding work after being in prison. He had very basic supplies and an extra battery for his tent and that was about it. He was also going stir crazy. Not everybody is prepared to spend time by themselves, going days without seeing or being within physical contact with people.

Why is this limited only to millennials? This generational labeling for every damn thing is so frigging tiresome that when I read "millennial" in an article, it's shorthand for "strange kids I have no sympathy for 'cuz I got mine, but if I don't, I need someone to look down on from a moral perspective of my own creation."

And they said millenials would have no impact

On the local Craigslist the other day looking for a used tractor.

One of the listings that came up was someone looking for "A corner of land for alternative lifestyle". The gist of the description was they are a couple of them there Millennial types - mid-twenties - with a child. They wanted a corner on somebody's farm to set up a tipi in exchange for performing light farm duties. I had flashbacks to my childhood and my hippie aunt and uncle with their goats living in a wigwam they built in the 70s.

Life could be a lot worse I suppose.

I've considered doing something like this just for a stable place to camp where I might have electricity and water available for cheap. I have a friend outside of Gainesville that I've considered talking about it with, but their cell service sucks and I can't do without internet for very long. It comes out to be cheaper where I camp anyway, just no amenities. One day I'll get a small RV with solar panels and things will be a lot easier.