Cities are getting worse year on year. I'd still be living downtown with kids if a homeless camp hadn't sprung up in a park near by. Suburbia by contrast is far enough from public transport that the homeless can't get there.
[1] https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/ng-interactive/2017/dec/...
But more practically, if you give a homeless guy in Manhattan $200 and a bus ticket to NJ, that dude is gonna come back. The distance is sort of necessary for the desired outcome.