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Airbnb raises violent crime rates in cities as residents are pushed out

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Re: Airbnb raises violent crime rates in cities as residents are pushed out

#111

Post by amadeuspagel »

wpietri wrote: post #59
cracker_jacks wrote: post #39

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No, the difficulty of increasing supply has directly led to increased home prices.

Supply increase difficulty has not changed recently. Demand increase has. So if we're going to blame it on one factor, it makes sense to pick the one that has changed and is easier to control. Less friction in increasing supply is also not an unalloyed good. You can look at the commercial office market, which is much less restricted and has huge boom/bust cycles. And that's before we get to the externalities of rapid…

> You can look at the commercial office market, which is much less restricted and has huge boom/bust cycles.

This is a problem only for investors. Dealing with that is their job. Protecting them from it is not a good reason to restrict housing supply.

Re: Airbnb raises violent crime rates in cities as residents are pushed out

#112

Post by m1117 »

I blame Airbnb in everything. Crime rates, sure. Homeless people, sure. Corruption in the government, def airbnb. Opioids, airbnb. (not really, I think that even though crime rates are correlated, they also should be handled by local government, culture, police and airbnb can't take the whole burden of blame. There're criminals, dumb people etc etc, and as a society we need to improve it)

Re: Airbnb raises violent crime rates in cities as residents are pushed out

#113

Post by DeRock »

ardit33 wrote: post #81
cletus wrote: post #33

A common quote on HN (and one that I firmly believe in) is: > It is difficult to get a man to understand something when his salary depends upon his not understanding it. This so applies to AirBnB. It's not salary per se but those that benefit by renting out units or those for whom this has saved them money I've found typically get so defensive about AirBnB to the point of calling detractors NIMBYists and the like. I'…

Well, you could include Craigslist in that, everything under the sun. AirBnb/VRBO/Boooking.com all have their use. The problem is when people rent/sublet their apt. in buildings that don't allow it, and cause nuisance to all. Buildings should be able to opt out, and airbnb should respect it, and ban users that misuse it. But, i bet, in the name of profit, things get overlooked. Anyways, if Airbnb is banned in a city,…

I don't think Craigslist gets used much for vacation rentals. Its certainly not well designed for that use case.

Re: Airbnb raises violent crime rates in cities as residents are pushed out

#114

Post by jen20 »

eganist wrote: post #109
JMTQp8lwXL wrote: post #70

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Twice I've booked airbnb's in buildings where it was not allowed, and I didn't find out until picking up the keys. It's incredibly frustrating (one of building had concierge who gave us hard time). Next time, I'll just go with a traditional hotel to avoid the stress. Both times, I saw other groups of people with luggage coming in and out. So it likely was impacting multiple units in both buildings.

In fairness, the stress shouldn't be yours to sweat. If someone loses their rental to anti short-term leasing rules, that's really on the renter who's subletting it out to you via Airbnb.

Depends whether it happens literally during the middle of your stay, as I have experienced.

Re: Airbnb raises violent crime rates in cities as residents are pushed out

#115

Post by PragmaticPulp »

cletus wrote: post #33

A common quote on HN (and one that I firmly believe in) is: > It is difficult to get a man to understand something when his salary depends upon his not understanding it. This so applies to AirBnB. It's not salary per se but those that benefit by renting out units or those for whom this has saved them money I've found typically get so defensive about AirBnB to the point of calling detractors NIMBYists and the like. I'…

> But AirBnB is clearly used to create illegal hotels and that's the problem.

The solution is increased enforcement of the laws that make these illegal.

The incentives aren't difficult: Create an anonymous tip line to report illegal AirBnB operations that violate zoning regulations. Have submitters provide the street address and URL of the AirBnB to make it easy. The person operating the AirBnB (or owner of the house) gets fined. The person submitting the tip about an illegal AirBnB receives 25% of the fine.

It wouldn't take long for illegal AirBnBs to close up shop when they realize there are negative repercussions for what they're doing. Keep it anonymous to avoid retribution.

I could even see bargain hunters looking for illegal AirBnBs to stay in, then reporting their hosts to collect their share of the resulting fine to recover some of the cost. The incentives are deeply stacked against the illegal AirBnB operators in this scenario.

Of course, this only works in areas where it's illegal to run temporary rentals. I expect we'll see more of those regulations as the problems with short-term AirBnBs in residential areas become more apparent.

Re: Airbnb raises violent crime rates in cities as residents are pushed out

#116

Post by cletus »

dorchadas wrote: post #88
bostonsre wrote: post #84

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> It's not salary per se but those that benefit by renting out units or those for whom this has saved them money I've found typically get so defensive about AirBnB to the point of calling detractors NIMBYists and the like. Isn't the other side of the argument also concerned with housing prices and money? > To be clear, I don't have a problem with people renting out rooms or an ADU on their property. What do you see a…

> What do you see as the differences between airbnb and this? Not OP, but I share a similar view. If you're renting out a room of an ADU, you're still occupying the property and using it as housing yourself. The whole difference is that the sole use of the property is not taking it off the long term rental/buying market. With spare rooms/ADUs, that's not the purpose of the property, whereas with renting out a whole h…

I agree with all this.

I'll further add that the landlord being there means they can't simply foist loud, unruly or unsafe temporary residents on an area where he or she does not have any skin in the game. That is, they have to suffer the consequences too. This invariably will lead to less negative externalities.

But this fits into a broader belief that I have, which is that cities should generally be for the residents of them first and foremost before being simply an investment vehicle for a foreign pension fund (for example).

That would mean that in NYC, for example, you get charged much higher property tax if you yourself are not a NYC resident (or possibly NYS resident).

Re: Airbnb raises violent crime rates in cities as residents are pushed out

#117

Post by somethingyammy »

cletus wrote: post #33

A common quote on HN (and one that I firmly believe in) is: > It is difficult to get a man to understand something when his salary depends upon his not understanding it. This so applies to AirBnB. It's not salary per se but those that benefit by renting out units or those for whom this has saved them money I've found typically get so defensive about AirBnB to the point of calling detractors NIMBYists and the like. I'…

>> It is difficult to get a man to understand something when his salary depends upon his not understanding it.

Pretty ironic coming from someone from Perth:

http://www.watoindia.in/wa/html/perth-majorindustries.htm

>By virtue of its population and role as the administrative centre for business and government, Perth dominates the Western Australian economy, despite the major mining, petroleum and agricultural export industries located elsewhere in the state.

To be clear, I don't have a problem with people living in Australia. But it's clear Perth and its residents exist off the back of negative externalities and need to be banned.

Re: Airbnb raises violent crime rates in cities as residents are pushed out

#118

Post by Matticus_Rex »

conradev wrote: post #106
thereisnospork wrote: post #96

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Airbnb should be a boon to the local economy. Tourists with money to spend at local businesses is literally the basis of the entire economy for multiple regions around the world. It's only a 'problem' because our local governments have perverted the housing market (and hotel market) with a Gordian knot's worth of regulation and red tape. How is it that we as a society are so dysfunctional as to be unable to build con…

If tourism is the basis of the entire economy for a given region, then that region usually has plenty of legal short-term accommodation options. Not to mention that these options are usually cheaper than Airbnb!

>Not to mention that these options are usually cheaper than Airbnb!

Not in my experience, at least not for anything comparable. Yes, a 3-star queen room in the city without a kitchenette is cheaper than a studio queen Airbnb ten minutes out from downtown, but it's not comparable.

Re: Airbnb raises violent crime rates in cities as residents are pushed out

#119

Post by afthonos »

ardit33 wrote: post #81
cletus wrote: post #33

A common quote on HN (and one that I firmly believe in) is: > It is difficult to get a man to understand something when his salary depends upon his not understanding it. This so applies to AirBnB. It's not salary per se but those that benefit by renting out units or those for whom this has saved them money I've found typically get so defensive about AirBnB to the point of calling detractors NIMBYists and the like. I'…

Well, you could include Craigslist in that, everything under the sun. AirBnb/VRBO/Boooking.com all have their use. The problem is when people rent/sublet their apt. in buildings that don't allow it, and cause nuisance to all. Buildings should be able to opt out, and airbnb should respect it, and ban users that misuse it. But, i bet, in the name of profit, things get overlooked. Anyways, if Airbnb is banned in a city,…

As always, it’s an issue of reach. AirBnB is the place to book non-hotel accommodations. Anyone who wants to can put their room or flat on there, and everyone who wants to find one knows where to look.

Re: Airbnb raises violent crime rates in cities as residents are pushed out

#120

Post by threatofrain »

cletus wrote: post #33

A common quote on HN (and one that I firmly believe in) is: > It is difficult to get a man to understand something when his salary depends upon his not understanding it. This so applies to AirBnB. It's not salary per se but those that benefit by renting out units or those for whom this has saved them money I've found typically get so defensive about AirBnB to the point of calling detractors NIMBYists and the like. I'…

With or without airbnb, states aren't about to create anything close to a policy which compels existing landowners to rent out parts of their property. How do you increase housing supply?
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