4 ms·

This just makes me want to puke. My neighbors spent a couple years built a fucking chalet that took up their entire backyard, ruined my small view of the occasi

This just makes me want to puke. My neighbors spent a couple years built a fucking chalet that took up their entire backyard, ruined my small view of the occasional sun in Portland, just so they could fuck off to Europe and Airbnb it for an obscene amount of money. This shouldn't have been allowed, but they got away with it under the Portland code exemptions that are super friendly to covering every inch of your property if you're building "affordable housing". Now we basically live next door to a motel with constant in/out and their hired maids shouting "housekeeping" at 8am. Airbnb can take their $1m and shove it up their asses. I support anything that helps bring down this model of turning neighborhoods into decentralized hotels, up to and including occasional acts of arson which unfortunately, I can't do because it would also burn my house down. One good friend of mine was a member of a Welsh group in the 80s whose name I don't know (but maybe someone on HN does know) who literally burned down the vacation houses of English people. I always think of that every time I'm woken up too early, which is almost every single day. I live in a $500k house and Airbnb has wrecked my daily peace and my neighborhood. Sure if I were smart and also an asshole I'd just put my own place up on Airbnb and fuck off myself. Part of me just believes it would be fucked up to do that to my other neighbors, and part of me doesn't want to accept that as the world we have to live in.

jjulius 4y ago
Genuinely curious, not trying to be confrontational... What steps have you taken to try to prevent yourself from hearing them shout, "Housekeeping," at 8AM and waking up early every day?
- dorchadas 4y ago
  OP shouldn't have to take steps. They live in a residential neighborhood, and the incentives given by AirBnB have started to ruin it, as they have countless neighborhoods and cities all over the world. AirBnB is a net negative to the world, as it just increases rents and exacerbates housing crises all so tourists can feel like they 'live' in a city at the expense of its actual inhabitants.
  - jjulius 4y ago
    I have lived in residential neighborhoods my entire life. It is completely common for brief, recurring noises to take place at certain times of the day. Someone might have a car with a loud engine that we hear when they leave for work and return, another neighbor might have a lawn service that starts in the earlier part of the morning. Someone might have a small woodshop in their garage and occasionally I'll hear them sawing in the morning. Hell, my next door neighbor was doing some serious pressure washing all day long yesterday, and that was quite noisy. People make noise, that's the way things go. I'm not saying it's pleasant - that pressure washer sure pissed me the fuck off, almost irrationally so, so I completely understand where OP is coming from. But what I read in OP's post is that they don't like someone yelling, "Housekeeping!" at 8AM. If that's legitimately the only thing that regularly wakes them up early, then there are plenty of ways to prevent yourself from hearing it. Edit: Please do not take this as a defense of AirBNB whatsoever - in point of fact, I agree with the general sentiment that they make life difficult for neighbors. That said, there's nuance here, and I'd just like to know more about OP's situation, because what they described doesn't sound anywhere near as bad as other AirBNB horror stories.
    - noduerme 4y ago
      "Housekeeping" was just a handy one-word example so you could get the picture. More specifically, the unit and its walkway are right up to the property line, inches from my bedroom window. People roll their suitcases in and out daily, stop and talk on their cell phones, come back from the bars drunk, etc. The (absent) owner does take some efforts to prevent loud groups, and to inform the guests to respect the neighbors by not playing loud music, etc, and mostly that's adhered to. Because of that, there's developed a kind of detente where I don't want to aggravate them or get into a neighbor war over nits like "Housekeeping", when really it's the totality of it that takes a toll on my sleep and my nerves.
      - hackerfromthefu 4y ago
        Get some good noise cancelling headphones and enjoy life again!
0des 4y ago
> My neighbors spent a couple years built a fucking chalet that took up their entire backyard, ruined my small view of the occasional sun in Portland > One good friend of mine was a member of a Welsh group in the 80s whose name I don't know (but maybe someone on HN does know) who literally burned down the vacation houses of English people. I always think of that every time I'm woken up too early, which is almost every single day. > I live in a $500k house and Airbnb has wrecked my daily peace and my neighborhood. Wow, this one is an odd comment. An actual nimby praising terrorism.
- noduerme 4y ago
  You assume I consider "nimby" to be an automatic insult. I think it could go either way. The Welsh group I mentioned were "nimbys". Maybe you could call the Palestinians "nimbys praising terrorism" too. I know the term is meant to imply people are selfish capitalists, but more often it describes small landowners having their rights taken away by giant corporations. If you think about it for a minute, isn't it more selfishly capitalistic to say anyone should be able to build commercial enterprises wherever they feel like at the expense of the health and well-being of people living nearby? This isn't like "I don't want a homeless shelter on my corner". I have a homeless shelter on my corner. This is like: I don't think you have a right to make money on your property in a way that directly and negatively impacts me.
- ren_engineer 4y ago
  not wanting your neighborhood to be turned into a profit center for real estate investors makes you a NIMBY? Give me your address so I can build a loud night club next to it, otherwise you are a NIMBY. Don't be a hypocrite, think about my bank account
  - 0des 4y ago
    > My neighbors spent a couple years built a fucking chalet that took up their entire backyard, ruined my small view of the occasional sun in Portland Not In My Back Yard
severine 4y ago
> ...a Welsh group in the 80s whose name I don't know (but maybe someone on HN does know) who literally burned down the vacation houses of English people. I didn't know but DDG did: Meibion Glyndŵr: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meibion_Glynd%C5%B5r https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meibion_Glynd%C5%B5r Thanks for the reference!
deleted 4y ago
[deleted]
boplicity 4y ago
I suspect your neighbors are in violation of the law. You may be able to stop them -- at least for 9 months of the year: https://www.portland.gov/bds/astr-permits/you-apply https://www.portland.gov/bds/astr-permits/you-apply
- noduerme 4y ago
  Wow. Thanks for the find. I had no idea about the residency requirements. I received the "neighborhood notice letter" the day they left the country 3 years ago, and just assumed they had worked out the permits. The problem is I don't like getting into conflict with neighbors, or making trouble for people. I try to be considerate even if I feel like they're not doing the same.

jjulius 4y ago

Genuinely curious, not trying to be confrontational... What steps have you taken to try to prevent yourself from hearing them shout, "Housekeeping," at 8AM and waking up early every day?

dorchadas 4y ago
OP shouldn't have to take steps. They live in a residential neighborhood, and the incentives given by AirBnB have started to ruin it, as they have countless neighborhoods and cities all over the world. AirBnB is a net negative to the world, as it just increases rents and exacerbates housing crises all so tourists can feel like they 'live' in a city at the expense of its actual inhabitants.
- jjulius 4y ago
  I have lived in residential neighborhoods my entire life. It is completely common for brief, recurring noises to take place at certain times of the day. Someone might have a car with a loud engine that we hear when they leave for work and return, another neighbor might have a lawn service that starts in the earlier part of the morning. Someone might have a small woodshop in their garage and occasionally I'll hear them sawing in the morning. Hell, my next door neighbor was doing some serious pressure washing all day long yesterday, and that was quite noisy. People make noise, that's the way things go. I'm not saying it's pleasant - that pressure washer sure pissed me the fuck off, almost irrationally so, so I completely understand where OP is coming from. But what I read in OP's post is that they don't like someone yelling, "Housekeeping!" at 8AM. If that's legitimately the only thing that regularly wakes them up early, then there are plenty of ways to prevent yourself from hearing it. Edit: Please do not take this as a defense of AirBNB whatsoever - in point of fact, I agree with the general sentiment that they make life difficult for neighbors. That said, there's nuance here, and I'd just like to know more about OP's situation, because what they described doesn't sound anywhere near as bad as other AirBNB horror stories.
  - noduerme 4y ago
    "Housekeeping" was just a handy one-word example so you could get the picture. More specifically, the unit and its walkway are right up to the property line, inches from my bedroom window. People roll their suitcases in and out daily, stop and talk on their cell phones, come back from the bars drunk, etc. The (absent) owner does take some efforts to prevent loud groups, and to inform the guests to respect the neighbors by not playing loud music, etc, and mostly that's adhered to. Because of that, there's developed a kind of detente where I don't want to aggravate them or get into a neighbor war over nits like "Housekeeping", when really it's the totality of it that takes a toll on my sleep and my nerves.
    - hackerfromthefu 4y ago
      Get some good noise cancelling headphones and enjoy life again!

0des 4y ago

> My neighbors spent a couple years built a fucking chalet that took up their entire backyard, ruined my small view of the occasional sun in Portland > One good friend of mine was a member of a Welsh group in the 80s whose name I don't know (but maybe someone on HN does know) who literally burned down the vacation houses of English people. I always think of that every time I'm woken up too early, which is almost every single day. > I live in a $500k house and Airbnb has wrecked my daily peace and my neighborhood. Wow, this one is an odd comment. An actual nimby praising terrorism.

noduerme 4y ago
You assume I consider "nimby" to be an automatic insult. I think it could go either way. The Welsh group I mentioned were "nimbys". Maybe you could call the Palestinians "nimbys praising terrorism" too. I know the term is meant to imply people are selfish capitalists, but more often it describes small landowners having their rights taken away by giant corporations. If you think about it for a minute, isn't it more selfishly capitalistic to say anyone should be able to build commercial enterprises wherever they feel like at the expense of the health and well-being of people living nearby? This isn't like "I don't want a homeless shelter on my corner". I have a homeless shelter on my corner. This is like: I don't think you have a right to make money on your property in a way that directly and negatively impacts me.
ren_engineer 4y ago
not wanting your neighborhood to be turned into a profit center for real estate investors makes you a NIMBY? Give me your address so I can build a loud night club next to it, otherwise you are a NIMBY. Don't be a hypocrite, think about my bank account
- 0des 4y ago
  > My neighbors spent a couple years built a fucking chalet that took up their entire backyard, ruined my small view of the occasional sun in Portland Not In My Back Yard

severine 4y ago

> ...a Welsh group in the 80s whose name I don't know (but maybe someone on HN does know) who literally burned down the vacation houses of English people. I didn't know but DDG did: Meibion Glyndŵr: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meibion_Glynd%C5%B5r https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meibion_Glynd%C5%B5r Thanks for the reference!

deleted 4y ago

[deleted]

boplicity 4y ago

I suspect your neighbors are in violation of the law. You may be able to stop them -- at least for 9 months of the year: https://www.portland.gov/bds/astr-permits/you-apply https://www.portland.gov/bds/astr-permits/you-apply

noduerme 4y ago
Wow. Thanks for the find. I had no idea about the residency requirements. I received the "neighborhood notice letter" the day they left the country 3 years ago, and just assumed they had worked out the permits. The problem is I don't like getting into conflict with neighbors, or making trouble for people. I try to be considerate even if I feel like they're not doing the same.