3 ms·
AirBNB ain't disrupting shit. Flop houses and illegal hotels have existed before. Silicon Valley doesn't do history ofcourse so they think that it is all new.
by Tsubasachan 8y ago
AirBNB ain't disrupting shit. Flop houses and illegal hotels have existed before. Silicon Valley doesn't do history ofcourse so they think that it is all new.
As you say the laws to destroy them already exist, all it takes is the effort to use it.
- DoreenMichele 8y agoI don't think AirBnB remotely fits the notion of a 'flophouse.' https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flophouse https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flophouse
- uwuhn 8y agohttps://www.airbnb.com/rooms/23131937 https://www.airbnb.com/rooms/23131937 10 people per room.
- seattle_spring 8y agoAnd listings like that are... what percentage of the total listings? 0.00001%? I bet there are more shared rooms on Craigslist than there are on Airbnb.
- DoreenMichele 8y agoIt appears to be aimed at students, not homeless people who want to get off the street for one night. As the Wikipedia article I linked states, flophouses were typically rented by transients -- what we generally call "the homeless" these days. The term "flophouse" originated with hobos and propagated out to the larger culture. I was homeless for several years. The prices listed in the thing you linked are comparable to what I sometimes paid for one night for a hotel in Fresno. There are people these days who are without permanent residence who live in hotels. Some definitions of homelessness count them as homeless. What you linked really doesn't fit what I am talking about. I have seen articles about illegal rentals stuffing multiple people into one room in big cities. They usually found them via Craigslits, iirc. Most AirBnB listings are along the lines of the cost of a hotel or more. From what I gather, they wind up being a hotel alternative in most cases, not something dirt cheap with no amenities that a homeless person might rent for a night or two. I blog about homelessness. I still talk to homeless people at times. I've had a college class on homelessness. I'm not uninformed on the topic of homelessness and what homeless people today are doing to get by. AirBnB rentals are not some bog standard coping mechanism for today's homeless, from what I gather.
- uwuhn 8y agoI'm not a student and I airbnb'd there while in between leases. Most of the other people I met there weren't students either.
- DoreenMichele 8y agoSo, a few questions: 1. Would you say you, personally, were "homeless" at the time that you lived there? 2. Would you say the photo the listing was representative? Or would you say it actually looked more like a filthy dive, a la the photos in the Wikipedia article on flophouses? 3. Would you say the majority of other tenants were transients? Anything else you can tell us here on HN to support your assertion that the listing in question fits the definition of "flophouse"? Thanks.
- kevinskii 8y agoThe listing in question does fit the definition of a flophouse, per your Wikipedia link [1]. It might not fully match the traditional conception of a flophouse, but it seems fair to call it one. [1] "flophouses...have been used for overnight lodging by those who needed the lowest cost alternative to staying with others, shelters or sleeping outside. Generally rooms are small, bathrooms are shared, and bedding is minimal..."
- jkestner 8y agoSan Francisco already has plenty of those. https://www.citylab.com/equity/2015/09/im-obsessed-with-san-franciscos-bunk-bed-craigslist-ads/407281/ https://www.citylab.com/equity/2015/09/im-obsessed-with-san-...