Palo Alto, Mountain View, and other peninsula communities don't spend money on homeless shelters for two big reasons:

1) San Francisco spends a ton of money on the homeless. Over $40k per homeless person per year. "If big SF spends so much on the homeless, why should little ol' us?"

2) The weather in the Bay Area is not particularly harsh. Yeah, it might get cold 1-3 days a year, but it's not really bad. You're not going to die from exposure to the elements like you would in Cleveland, Detroit, or even Dallas. "No one will die sleeping outside here" is a common thought.

I'm not agreeing or disagreeing with these thoughts, but this is what peninsula planners think.