A Seattle City Council staff report has found that the city’s increase in homelessness is the result of a shortage of housing rather than resistance to accept shelter. Councilmember Andrew Lewis, who requested the study, told The Seattle Times:

“This data does not indicate to me that the primary problem is service resistance. If it were, regardless of the size of the system, we would have high vacancy rates, and we don’t,” Lewis said. “When these teams can offer some kind of shelter, people do seem to jump at the opportunity to take it.”

On a positive note, the number of beds for the homeless will increase by 2,000 between 2020 and 2023, a 47% jump.