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> I think Airbnb is well aware of the housing issue and more than willing to work together on solutions. I'm sorry, that's just not true, and Sam, I admire a l
by justizin 11y ago
> I think Airbnb is well aware of the housing issue and more than willing to work together on solutions.
I'm sorry, that's just not true, and Sam, I admire a lot of what you've said on a lot of issues, but I cannot believe that you are sincere in this article overall, unless you are just naive.
Any property owner in San Francisco has always been able to go to the Planning Commission and request a conditional use permit to turn their home into a bed and breakfast, and as far as we can tell, no such request has ever been denied.
Renters in San Francisco do not in almost any case I have ever heard of have the right to sublet our apartments, even to additional roommates, without the approval of our landlords, and with good reason.
If a person has lived in San Francisco for some time, and loses their ability to earn enough to pay their rent, it is abusive and narcissistic for that person to believe that simply by having the keys to a place that already does not belong to them, they can - with no consideration for their neighbors - turn their home into a business. A hotel business, no less, which kind of foists upon them the responsibilities of travel guides, as we read in an article this morning.
Now, as demand for housing in an area is shooting up, individual renters are leveraging that in a way that does not contribute to the cost of maintaining property, putting increased pressure on other tenants, and disallowing the landlord from actually satisfying that demand.
All that aside, AirBnb knows what the fuck they are doing. I know at least one successful AirBnb host who has had AirBnb approach them and encourage them to rent up nearby apartments and turn them into new units!
San Francisco housing activists have asked time and time again for AirBnb to open up data about how many hosts have multiple units, and who is renting when not in their unit, so that data may be used over time to guide regulation, but as is becoming a trend with YC companies, private executives and investors feel that they can do better city planning than people who have decades or perhaps their entire lives invested in doing so.
Put up or shut the fuck up, sir.
- mildbow 11y ago"It is difficult to get a man to understand something, when his salary depends on his not understanding it." -- Upton Sinclair iirc
- cwilkes 11y agoNot sure who is downvoting you -- this quote is entirely appropriate.
- balls187 11y agoNo need for ad hominem arguments.
- justizin 11y agoHow is going after the behavior of an organization after complimenting someone as an individual ad hominem?
- balls187 11y ago> but I cannot believe that you are sincere in this article overall, unless you are just naive.
- balls187 11y ago> but I cannot believe that you are sincere in this article overall, unless you are just naive. Rather than just point out specific issues with the merits of the argument, you implied he is either insincere, or naive.
- pkinsky 11y ago>...do better city planning than people who have decades or perhaps their entire lives invested in doing so. What exactly about the current state of SF makes you think the people doing city planning here are in any way competent?
- justizin 11y agoBTW, sama, by taking the position you have on behalf of AirBnb, in opposition to the interests of existing SF voters, you could be considered to be participated in a gerrymandering exercise and end up with the mayor in a future FBI investigation. [ Clarification: I and other activists are exploring the notion that acting on behalf of future imagined voters and against the will of existing voters may be criminal gerrymandering, basically the sort of politics that keeps my home state of Texas uninhabitable. All current SF housing policy led by the mayor and supervisors like Mark Farrell, who holds stock in a YC company that derives income from AirBnb, does exactly this. ] I strongly suggest staying the fuck out of San Francisco politics. Doing otherwise would be a great way to lose all of the money that you have amassed as an AirBnb shareholder.
- dang 11y agoYour comment yesterday broke the HN guidelines ("Put up or shut the fuck up") and I almost chided you for it then, but decided to err on the side of not defending the home team. This, though, is ridiculous. Nobody gets to use HN to threaten another user like this, no matter who they are. The values of HN are civility and substantiveness. Everyone is welcome to present their views here within those bounds, and no one is welcome to break them.