If you think homes are expensive where you live, try getting a place in San Francisco. There's been a serious homelessness problem in the city for some time but now it's to the point where there's no space for them, so they're gradually moving out onto the bay, constructing makeshift boats and barges and forming floating tent cities.
The city has always had a small population of people living on self-constructed houseboats but recently, the cost of housing has driven more of the city's transient population to consider living on the water. Between 100 and 200 "barges, sailboats, and other mostly decrepit vessels" now occupy the landscape by the bay.
Concerns from area residents include the fact that these boats aren't equipped with toilets, showers, or laundry facilities, so human waste is being dumped directly into the water and the people who do own property don't want to see this outside their windows.
Officials say that up to 20,000 transients are thought to make San Francisco's streets their home for at least part of the year and with unaffordable housing, they tend to stay there.
Source: WSJ