

Airbnb Grows to a Million Rooms, and Hotel Rivals Are Quiet, for Now - kanamekun
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/05/12/business/airbnb-grows-to-a-million-rooms-and-hotel-rivals-are-quiet-for-now.html

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TheGRS
Something that this article hasn't touched on, but I'm sure will be a big
issue in the coming years, is the legality of Airbnb's service. Right now they
are cruising along without much risk in that area, but that's only because its
a new service. Here in Portland there are already some people who are
purchasing properties from out of town just so they can rent on Airbnb, which
for our town is putting even more stress on the exploding rent market. I have
a feeling the other foot is going to drop on many of these sharing services at
some point.

source:
[http://www.wweek.com/portland/article-23993-hotel_california...](http://www.wweek.com/portland/article-23993-hotel_california.html)

Not that I'm personally against the service, I think its a great alternative
to traditional motels/hotels, but it should be more for people looking to
share an unused room than as a way to get more bang for their buck on their
rent.

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stevesearer
I've been noticing a bunch of random people hanging out on my street (a cul-
de-sac) in Santa Barbara recently and found that one of my neighbors is
renting their rooms on Airbnb. I'm totally fine with it, except that the
street already has limited parking. More cars equals less street parking for
my family which sucks when we have to carry our 3mo old daughter + groceries a
long ways down the street.

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ianferrel
Do you think Airbnb renters have more cars on average than someone renting the
place more long-term?

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theflyingkiwi42
Yes, if the Airbnb hosts rents out additional rooms. Now those rooms have
additional cars where without those renters, only the owner would have one (or
two) cars.

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ianferrel
But why wouldn't whoever was renting those rooms long-term have a car?

If you're comparing "single person in a house with multiple bedrooms" to
"multiple people in a house with multiple bedrooms", then it's fairly obvious
that the latter case would have park more cars on average.

But if there are people renting those rooms, I don't see how it matters if
they're there for the weekend or for a year.

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stevesearer
Not all people who host on Airbnb would rent those same rooms out long term
though. It is common for people to live in a home and not have every bedroom
occupied by a car owning adult. Sometimes the extra rooms are used as offices
or guest bedrooms or children's bedrooms. I have no idea when my neighbor
would be doing otherwise.

My point though was less about Airbnb causing the problem and more about
stating that city officials need to think about how these sorts of scenarios
affect citizens when they are making planning decisions.

Would there be enough parking with all of the bedrooms in this complex were
occupied by a driving adult?

Or what happens when the condo design had to include a two-car garage, but
tenants use the garage as storage and then park on the street?

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stevesearer
One of the things that drew me to use Airbnb several years ago was the ability
to book a stay somewhere that was less expensive yet more interesting.

I was recently looking for a place in Chicago as well as Kyoto and had a hard
time finding listings that weren't dirty looking, had no charm, or weren't
just as expensive as a hotel. I'm sure they exist, but there are just so many
listings in some cities, sifting through them can be a real pain.

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msoad
In my recent visit to Seattle I settled down for a hotel. Airbnb were too
expensive for two people. Maybe I was booking too late though

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maratd
Are you guys looking at rooms or apartments? If the answer is apartments, then
why wouldn't they be more expensive?

You get a kitchen, a living room, internet, laundry, etc. stuff that isn't
part of the hotel deal.

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hammerandtongs
I think as airbnb starts to be more about capitalized companies purchasing and
then renting residential properties we might come to remember why it was we
have zoning laws in the first place.

It all seems fine and dandy(not so much if you live next to someone
aggressively renting) when you have rich neighborhoods renting to rich
transients ("professionals" in the article).

Whats the impact in poor and middle class neighborhoods having their transient
population massively increased by airbnb slumlords?

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shit_parade2
Oh, better not let the poor or even middle class use the same tools and get
the same advantages of us rich elite.

Only professionals can act with responsibility, we must task our politicians
and police to put down any attempts by the poor to improve their lot in life.

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hammerandtongs
Reread my comment where I said "seems fine".

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panamafrank
The issue is the granularity of regulation in that the details and legality of
airbnb is decided not on a national or state level but by the municipal
authorities, from a regulation standpoint it's totally unmanageable and
unenforceable. Your average airbnb host isn't subject to the same hygiene or
safety certifications let alone business and tourism taxes. I cannot imagine
there to be a million Airbnb rooms that are compliant with all relevant by-
laws.

I'm going to go out on a limb here and suggest that the hotel industry has in
the past actively fought against normalising the laws that affect them because
I bet... They exploit them too.

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kwijibob
Airbnb gets people travelling who might otherwise stay home.

People who get a bad airbnb booking always jump to the nearest hotel.

As airbnb gets even more massive, the hotel industry could benefit from the
spillage of people who otherwise wouldn't travel.

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bruceb
You have any data to back that up? Seems airbnb at least at first was for the
more adventurus who are already traveling.

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kwijibob
Only anecdotal. I think you are correct, the early adopters were confident
travellers.

However the brand is so well known that ordinary people are talking about it,
in my observations. Combined with cheap air travel it is magnifying tourism in
my circles.

