Homeless Encampment?

In my continual search for all things weird and wonderful about American culture I came across a bit about a woman doing a series of pole dances using highway signs as props.

When commuters spotted a woman in a belly dancing get-up getting her groove on with a road sign, they called 911. It's more than you might expect to see along the side of Interstate 880 in San Leandro on a Monday afternoon.

The first call described a woman belly dancing along the right side of the road at 3:07 p.m. A minute later, drivers reported that she was using a light pole as a dancing prop and then a highway sign for a pole dance.

Well that is interesting. Nothing unusual for Wackifornia. It is the next bit that really caught my attention. After the police were called and chased the woman she got away.

By the time officers arrived at the scene, the woman had ducked into the brush near a homeless encampment and run away, Johnson said.

Now what exactly is a homeless encampment? And why is California hosting them?

Maybe it has something to do with housing prices like this or like this.