Tom Sepa, who has a job, car, laptop, headset and prefers the term urban outdoorsman regularly sleeps in Golden Gate park because he can’t afford an apartment.

He makes $2k to $3k and month yet he and his wife can’t make $F rents. He washes up in Starbucks bathroom after he buys a coffee.

It is also worth noting that Sepa couldn’t have done this five years ago. With his Wi-Fi card, cell phone, and PayPal account, he can conduct business, collect a paycheck and apply for his next job from a laptop in a tent in the park.

“This is the most liberating thing of the Internet,” he said. “The birdcage is open.”

Perhaps his only concession to the traditional world is a postal box he keeps downtown. What, I asked, does he use that for?

“My Netflix movies,” Sepa said.

Also of note in the article is a 1999 stat that 20% of people sleeping in SF shelters are employed.