I do agree there's a lack of urgency, but I don't think that's related to the weather. I think it's more than weather, as even other cities in good weather areas manage to do better than the bay area.

It’s because it’s impossible to get approval to build anything or even change uses.

Yeah I think this is a huge part of it. I'm in Chicago now and there's construction everywhere all the time. The Bay Area won't build housing, which drives up the cost of land and housing everywhere else in the area. This makes it harder to build shelters.