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Airbnb is a great company but they seem unnecessarily greedy. They shouldn't allow people to rent out apartments without neighbor consent. They should limit the
by staunch 11y ago
Airbnb is a great company but they seem unnecessarily greedy. They shouldn't allow people to rent out apartments without neighbor consent. They should limit the number of days that people can rent their homes. And they shouldn't allow companies to operate dozens of Airbnb locations as de facto hotels.
These are the kinds of reasonable regulations that will happen to them eventually, if they don't put constraints on themselves.
- Jormundir 11y agoWhy? Your "shoulds" sound like arbitrary rules to make some people comfortable at other peoples' expense.
- nrb 11y agoThe flip side is also true, the lack of "arbitrary" rules are sometimes making airbnb guests comfortable at the expense of neighbors/communities. Isn't it the case he's making that there should be sensible middle ground?
- toomuchtodo 11y agoAt some point, we're going to need to decide what's more important: tech startup revenue/profits or quality of life.
- grossvogel 11y agoUnfortunately there are two different concepts of "we" at play. The "we" who get pushed out of our neighborhoods by tourism-driven rent increases will most certainly not be the "we" who decide what's more important.
- toomuchtodo 11y agoThe "we" who votes is most important.
- morgante 11y agoWhat about the "we" who like to travel, stay in nice apartments, and rent out their apartment while we're gone (because we're not plutocrats)?
- toomuchtodo 11y agoVote. That's how democracy works. If you lose, you accept your loss. And when you say "apartment", I'm assuming you mean with permission from your landlord/management company with a lease that doesn't prohibit unapproved sublets, right? Because to do otherwise would violate their property rights.
- morgante 11y agoTravelers can't vote. That's an incredibly reductionist answer.
- toomuchtodo 11y agoThat's my point; travelers don't get a say in local politics. Its up to the local populace to decide what they want.
- morgante 11y ago> Its up to the local populace to decide what they want. Thinking that's the solution to every problem is rather naive. For one thing, it's a great way to abuse minorities for the minor benefit of majorities. More importantly, it ignores the fact that actions can have externalities far beyond a local jurisdiction. Just like a town shouldn't be able to "vote" to rob everyone who drives on their highway (or, more realistically, eliminate air quality controls), neither should it be allowed to have complete control over travel regulations. Travelers might not be a constituent in local elections, but travel and interstate commerce does have key externalities.
- toomuchtodo 11y ago
- msellout 11y agoThe quality of life of travelers and hosts seems to line up quite nicely with startup revenue.
- toomuchtodo 11y agoBut will it last as local jurisdictions add short-term rental restrictions? That's the question. Those governments are accountable to their local voters, not AirBnB, and definitely not the travelers who use it.
- msellout 11y agoToo bad. They're probably chasing local optima that are quite different from the global maximum.
- msellout 11y agoIt's a debate over the definition of "owning property", which is something that changes frequently over the years. We're always trying to find some sensible middle ground.
- dibbsonline 11y agoGreat comapanies can cover running costs. These are just placeholder companies on life support systems.
- rorykoehler 11y agoI'd be surprised if they're not covering running costs. They've got a ton of revenue.
- nostromo 11y agoI'm of the view that property rights are an important component of civil rights. I think the constitution is on my side given the fourth amendment. It's interesting that on HN I see near universal support for the freedom to smoke pot in one's home, or to live with a same-sex partner, or replace a lawn with a rock garden, or to have our communications remain private. But when it comes to letting someone crash on your couch in exchange for a few bucks, suddenly there are calls for a full-scale invasion of privacy and limitation of what one can do in their own home, in order to protect one's neighbors from... what exactly? Obviously property rights have reasonable limitations, but is Airbnb really such a case? If you have a neighbor that is hosting a bad guest, then surely the bad behavior is the problem (and probably already illegal).
- jacquesm 11y ago> freedom to smoke pot in one's home, or to live with a same-sex partner, or replace a lawn with a rock garden, or to have our communications remain private. Those affect you. > when it comes to letting someone crash on your couch in exchange for a few bucks That scenario also only affects you, when you add the term 'occasionally'. But if you live in a residential area and suddenly on four sides you find yourself with low-budget hotels with people coming and going at all hours and partying until 3 am because the owner of the apartment is absent when the guests are there then that is not a nice thing per-se and this is where your 'couch' starts to leak in to the lives of others around you. So yes, AirBNB really can be such a case.
- mahyarm 11y agoThen enforce noise regulations and other common property laws. If a long term tenant college party house moves in beside you, then you have the exact same problems. But you cannot blame AirBnB or similar in this case.
- jacquesm 11y agoLong term college tenants as a rule are extremely well behaved, mostly because they value quiet as much as the next person (or even more) on account of their studies. They may have a few more parties than any other household but as a rule they don't generate too much of a problem because they are in there for the longer term and so have to be on good terms with the rest of the neighborhood. And I would not blame AirBNB in that case because they have absolutely nothing to do with that.
- morgante 11y agoI don't even know my neighbors. I certainly don't want to have to ask them before renting out my spare room. I don't ask my neighbors before having family stay for a few days. Why should it be any different for Airbnb?