6 ms·

And what a disaster Airbnb and Uber have been for the cities they have invaded. That’s why people legislate against them.

mikojan 7y ago
Who is down voting this? It is correct. Uber is contributing to traffic jams, environmental catastrophe and the continued deterioration of public transport. Airbnb is contributing to a housing crisis in many major cities. Of course,the public sector created a lot of the problems Uber alleviates on an individual basis but that doesn't change the fact that is a really bad solution.
- zozbot234 7y ago
  Deterioration of public transport is political. NIMBY's don't want public transport in their backyard, out of fear that it might bring in "undesirable" folk. Uber and Lyft have zilch to do with this. If anything, these services make public transport more effective by solving the "last mile" problem for its users and thus obviating the need for a privately-owned car. Airbnb is contributing to a housing crisis? You know the way out of that "crisis": Build more housing. Or more hotels, since the scarcity of hotel services is clearly what's driving Airbnb use in the first place.
  - mikojan 7y ago
    This is just corporate propaganda. Studies have repeatedly shown that a significant number of people are using Uber INSTEAD of public transport
    - rpedela 7y ago
      If Uber/Lyft didn't exist, public transportation in US would still be horrible for a myriad of reasons. I don't know if Uber/Lyft make things worse, but they certainly aren't the root cause.
      - mikojan 7y ago
        That's what I wrote:they aren't the root cause. My point was:They are a BAD solution and they are contributing to the problem.
    - llampx 7y ago
      Make public transportation infrastructure more convenient than cars and cheaper than cars, and the problem solves itself.
      - mikojan 7y ago
        That's what they are doing by making private transportation more inconvient and expensive.
- andromeduck 7y ago
  Keep on blaming demand and not the constricted supply.
  - deleted 7y ago
    [deleted]
- kd5bjo 7y ago
  >Who is down voting this? It is correct. Simply being correct is not the only criterion for a comment being a positive contribution to the conversation. The comment also needs to relate its new information to the topic at hand. At a guess¹, the unsupported assertion that AirBnB and Uber have been disasters is the major problem with the comment, in addition to the fact that they are not the primary subject of the conversation which makes 'randomsearch's comment feel more like a ranting non sequitur than a substantive contribution. ¹ I was not one of the downvoters
  - randomsearch 7y ago
    > the unsupported assertion that AirBnB and Uber have been disasters ...quick examples, just grabbed these articles but they're representative of the problems Airbnb has caused people and cities I have first-hand experience of: > Uber has been stripped of its London licence after authorities found that more than 14,000 trips were taken with drivers who had faked their identity on the firm’s app. > TfL said on Monday it had identified a “pattern of failures” by Uber, including several breaches that placed passengers and their safety at risk. https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2019/nov/25/uber-loses-licence-london-tfl https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2019/nov/25/uber-lose... > Uber and Lyft increase pollution and undermine public transport, study shows https://www.transportenvironment.org/news/uber-and-lyft-increase-pollution-and-undermine-public-transport-study-shows https://www.transportenvironment.org/news/uber-and-lyft-incr... > Airbnb rentals in London block sparks call for action https://www.ft.com/content/3aa0bd72-fa01-11e8-af46-2022a0b02a6c https://www.ft.com/content/3aa0bd72-fa01-11e8-af46-2022a0b02... > Airbnb time limits 'ineffective in London' councils say https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-38924720 https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-38924720 > "Short term lets are having a terrible impact. They are hollowing out communities, both in the city centre and increasingly across Edinburgh. Residents are putting up with high levels of anti-social behaviour and, very worryingly for us, we believe there is a huge impact on housing supply," said Councillor Kate Campbell (SNP), housing convenor at City of Edinburgh Council. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-47910700 https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-47910700 etc. etc.
    - kd5bjo 7y ago
- randomsearch 7y ago
  Thanks, that was exactly my point. The contribution to the conversation, for those it wasn’t clear to, is that regulation exists exactly because companies are prone to behave like Uber and Airbnb, and not the other way around.
- Consultant32452 7y ago
  >Uber is contributing to traffic jams Who are you trying to alleviate traffic jams for? Which group of people do you think has a greater right to traffic free car travel?
  - mikojan 7y ago
    Traffic jams are bad for the environment because in general acceleration is more costly than constant speed. This is about every bodies right to clean air and a world permitting organized human life.
    - Consultant32452 7y ago
      Right, and in order to get to this new better world with cleaner air and less stop and go traffic, who will be granted the special driving right and who will get denied? Please be as specific as possible. I want to know if I'm getting to drive on the traffic free roads or if I'll be stuck in public transportation with the peasants. This will impact my vote.
      - mikojan 7y ago
        This is a great argument for communism but at the moment we are dealing with capitalism and capitalism is limiting your freedom in accordance with the money you do not have. If you do not agree with this please join your local communist party.
        Consultant32452 7y ago
        If I join the party will I get to drive on the traffic free roads instead of being stuck on public transportation with the peasants?
        kofejnik 7y ago
        Why don't communists emigrate to North Korea? They will be able to enjoy state-provided public transportation and housing, away from those terrible profit-seeking capitalists
jimmaswell 7y ago
Yes, what a disaster having affordable car transportation that doesn't turn you away for being a minority and having cheaper alternatives to hotels available that let people make money renting out extra rooms.
- parthdesai 7y ago
  > having cheaper alternatives to hotels available that let people make money renting out extra rooms. Yeah, in that case, all the long term residents living in popular cities must be insane to hate Airbnb. Have lived in a city and a building infested with Airbnbs? If you did, you would how fucked up it is for a long term renter.
  - jimmaswell 7y ago
    I've stayed in AirBnB's. The only way any other tenants would even know I was there was that I was taking up a parking spot. Someone would have been insane to be mad about my being there, yes.
    - jakobegger 7y ago
      The problem is that investors buy up cheap apartments and put them on AirBnB to make insane profits. This drives up prices for locals. The other tenants are mad because landlords prefer renting apartments to tourists for 5k a month instead of renting to locals for 1k a month.
      - jimmaswell 7y ago
        Some price controls and restrictions on renting out whole domiciles would be nice but the aspect of renting out a portion of an already-occupied space like I used it for is great.
        parthdesai 7y ago
        Yes, airbnb used as a bed and breakfast is great. I'm not saying otherwise. But what has ended up happening is people buying multiple properties to list them only on airbnb. This has created shortage for people actually living and working in the city and driving the rent prices up in desirable neighbourhoods since tourists want to experience the city through the lens of a local person. And Airbnb actively lobbies and tries to skirt the rules where city puts a limit on how many units you can list and for how many days a year. So yeah, long story short, fuck airbnb.
dang 7y ago
We detached this subthread from https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=21796096 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=21796096 since it swerved off topic into the nearest generic black hole.

mikojan 7y ago

Who is down voting this? It is correct. Uber is contributing to traffic jams, environmental catastrophe and the continued deterioration of public transport. Airbnb is contributing to a housing crisis in many major cities. Of course,the public sector created a lot of the problems Uber alleviates on an individual basis but that doesn't change the fact that is a really bad solution.

zozbot234 7y ago
Deterioration of public transport is political. NIMBY's don't want public transport in their backyard, out of fear that it might bring in "undesirable" folk. Uber and Lyft have zilch to do with this. If anything, these services make public transport more effective by solving the "last mile" problem for its users and thus obviating the need for a privately-owned car. Airbnb is contributing to a housing crisis? You know the way out of that "crisis": Build more housing. Or more hotels, since the scarcity of hotel services is clearly what's driving Airbnb use in the first place.
- mikojan 7y ago
  This is just corporate propaganda. Studies have repeatedly shown that a significant number of people are using Uber INSTEAD of public transport
  - rpedela 7y ago
    If Uber/Lyft didn't exist, public transportation in US would still be horrible for a myriad of reasons. I don't know if Uber/Lyft make things worse, but they certainly aren't the root cause.
    - mikojan 7y ago
      That's what I wrote:they aren't the root cause. My point was:They are a BAD solution and they are contributing to the problem.
  - llampx 7y ago
    Make public transportation infrastructure more convenient than cars and cheaper than cars, and the problem solves itself.
    - mikojan 7y ago
      That's what they are doing by making private transportation more inconvient and expensive.
andromeduck 7y ago
Keep on blaming demand and not the constricted supply.
- deleted 7y ago
  [deleted]
kd5bjo 7y ago
>Who is down voting this? It is correct. Simply being correct is not the only criterion for a comment being a positive contribution to the conversation. The comment also needs to relate its new information to the topic at hand. At a guess¹, the unsupported assertion that AirBnB and Uber have been disasters is the major problem with the comment, in addition to the fact that they are not the primary subject of the conversation which makes 'randomsearch's comment feel more like a ranting non sequitur than a substantive contribution. ¹ I was not one of the downvoters
- randomsearch 7y ago
  > the unsupported assertion that AirBnB and Uber have been disasters ...quick examples, just grabbed these articles but they're representative of the problems Airbnb has caused people and cities I have first-hand experience of: > Uber has been stripped of its London licence after authorities found that more than 14,000 trips were taken with drivers who had faked their identity on the firm’s app. > TfL said on Monday it had identified a “pattern of failures” by Uber, including several breaches that placed passengers and their safety at risk. https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2019/nov/25/uber-loses-licence-london-tfl https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2019/nov/25/uber-lose... > Uber and Lyft increase pollution and undermine public transport, study shows https://www.transportenvironment.org/news/uber-and-lyft-increase-pollution-and-undermine-public-transport-study-shows https://www.transportenvironment.org/news/uber-and-lyft-incr... > Airbnb rentals in London block sparks call for action https://www.ft.com/content/3aa0bd72-fa01-11e8-af46-2022a0b02a6c https://www.ft.com/content/3aa0bd72-fa01-11e8-af46-2022a0b02... > Airbnb time limits 'ineffective in London' councils say https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-38924720 https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-38924720 > "Short term lets are having a terrible impact. They are hollowing out communities, both in the city centre and increasingly across Edinburgh. Residents are putting up with high levels of anti-social behaviour and, very worryingly for us, we believe there is a huge impact on housing supply," said Councillor Kate Campbell (SNP), housing convenor at City of Edinburgh Council. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-47910700 https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-47910700 etc. etc.
  - kd5bjo 7y ago
randomsearch 7y ago
Thanks, that was exactly my point. The contribution to the conversation, for those it wasn’t clear to, is that regulation exists exactly because companies are prone to behave like Uber and Airbnb, and not the other way around.
Consultant32452 7y ago
>Uber is contributing to traffic jams Who are you trying to alleviate traffic jams for? Which group of people do you think has a greater right to traffic free car travel?
- mikojan 7y ago
  Traffic jams are bad for the environment because in general acceleration is more costly than constant speed. This is about every bodies right to clean air and a world permitting organized human life.
  - Consultant32452 7y ago
    Right, and in order to get to this new better world with cleaner air and less stop and go traffic, who will be granted the special driving right and who will get denied? Please be as specific as possible. I want to know if I'm getting to drive on the traffic free roads or if I'll be stuck in public transportation with the peasants. This will impact my vote.
    - mikojan 7y ago
      This is a great argument for communism but at the moment we are dealing with capitalism and capitalism is limiting your freedom in accordance with the money you do not have. If you do not agree with this please join your local communist party.
      - Consultant32452 7y ago
        If I join the party will I get to drive on the traffic free roads instead of being stuck on public transportation with the peasants?
      - kofejnik 7y ago
        Why don't communists emigrate to North Korea? They will be able to enjoy state-provided public transportation and housing, away from those terrible profit-seeking capitalists

jimmaswell 7y ago

Yes, what a disaster having affordable car transportation that doesn't turn you away for being a minority and having cheaper alternatives to hotels available that let people make money renting out extra rooms.

parthdesai 7y ago
> having cheaper alternatives to hotels available that let people make money renting out extra rooms. Yeah, in that case, all the long term residents living in popular cities must be insane to hate Airbnb. Have lived in a city and a building infested with Airbnbs? If you did, you would how fucked up it is for a long term renter.
- jimmaswell 7y ago
  I've stayed in AirBnB's. The only way any other tenants would even know I was there was that I was taking up a parking spot. Someone would have been insane to be mad about my being there, yes.
  - jakobegger 7y ago
    The problem is that investors buy up cheap apartments and put them on AirBnB to make insane profits. This drives up prices for locals. The other tenants are mad because landlords prefer renting apartments to tourists for 5k a month instead of renting to locals for 1k a month.
    - jimmaswell 7y ago
      Some price controls and restrictions on renting out whole domiciles would be nice but the aspect of renting out a portion of an already-occupied space like I used it for is great.
      - parthdesai 7y ago
        Yes, airbnb used as a bed and breakfast is great. I'm not saying otherwise. But what has ended up happening is people buying multiple properties to list them only on airbnb. This has created shortage for people actually living and working in the city and driving the rent prices up in desirable neighbourhoods since tourists want to experience the city through the lens of a local person. And Airbnb actively lobbies and tries to skirt the rules where city puts a limit on how many units you can list and for how many days a year. So yeah, long story short, fuck airbnb.

dang 7y ago

We detached this subthread from https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=21796096 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=21796096 since it swerved off topic into the nearest generic black hole.