4 ms·
Somewhat OT, but I suppose I brought it up in my comment. Can you clarify your question? Are you referring to "you" as in AirBNB or "you" as in the host/owner
by nlh 14y ago
Somewhat OT, but I suppose I brought it up in my comment.
Can you clarify your question? Are you referring to "you" as in AirBNB or "you" as in the host/owner of the apartment? And by "me" do you mean yourself as a host or yourself as an AirBNB user/guest?
Who do you think owes you a check and for what risk exactly?
- rayiner 14y agoAirBnB's business model is built on violating zoning regulations. Cities zone hotels specially because a place with a constant stream of transient tenants has a very different risk profile than a place with long-term tenants. When people buy a condo or apartment or house in a residential area, they rely on that zoning. All else being equal, a home in a completely residential area is going to cost more than one next to say a hotel. When you effectively run a hotel in a residential area by being an "avid AirBNB user", you expose your neighbors to more risk than they bargained for, without compensating them. This kind of thing is just a great way to make money. Take a little bit away from a very large number of people in a way that makes it hard for any single affected person to challenge the system as a whole.
- jvm 14y agoSorry I'm having trouble following this argument, what is the risk? A couple guesses I had: -Do you think they'll start a fire and burn the neighborhood down? I think I can safely say that that virtually never happens in the contemporary US. -Do you think airbnb guests are likely to be violent criminals? To which I would answer, when a criminal stays at a hotel and then attacks me does the hotel owe me money? In my opinion they do not.
- tptacek 14y agoThis question is disingenuous. The risks involved here are obvious. When you acquire a lease from a landlord, the landlord screens you. Many check references. Arbitrary apartments in arbitrary buildings are not a product offered anonymously, like candy bars or Macbooks. In addition to the lurid- but- non-negligible risks you bring up, there are more pedestrian problems with transient tenants: * They may leave outer door locks unlocked * They may let random strangers into the building * They create noise * They can damage the building * They create fire and electrical hazards * They create unsafe unsanitary conditions It is, again, disingenuous to imply that these are new concerns brought up to stymie offerings like Airbnb. These have always been concerns. Do a Google news search for "hotel zoning". People protest, often successfully, proposed zoning changes that would allow new hotels.
- sami36 14y agoHow about a 4* star hotel or an SPG property ? is your conception of a hotel an off-the-ramp motel 6 in the Ghetto. You do realize that some of the wealthiest people in the country abandon homeownership for a care-free hotel life (Marissa Mayer, Harry Reid...others.) To me, you sound like a poor schmuck with a Mustang lecturing a Porsche owner about luxury.
- tptacek 14y agoNone of this comment rebuts any point I made in my comment.
- sami36 14y agoIt does, actually. It challenges your mistaken understanding of a what "hotel" stands for, its patrons, their economic social status & their affluence in relation to your average dweller.
- rayiner 14y agoI lived next to a 4 star hotel in Chicago. The transient patrons attracted a steady stream of prostitutes in and out of the hotel.
- sami36 14y agofrequented by good morally-unquestionable family men living clean lives in clean homes., right ? WHO can afford escorts & 4* hotels ? Thank you, you've made my point for me. You might want to revisit your idea, I mean, fantasy of the wholesome residential subdivision. Stepford wives & all. My point is, if you've failed to grasp it, you're no better than the average AirBnb customer, not worse either. Just don't go trying to perpetuate some manufactured falsehood to reinforce your hostility towards a company whose business model you disagree with.
- jvm 14y agoI protest that my comment was not "disingenuous." You raise valid points about being in the same building with airbnb guests. Your original comment was about zoning, which implied to me that you were against being in the same neighborhood with airbnb guests since zoning regulation is at the neighborhood level. Issues that involve being in the same building with airbnb guests could be easily dealt with in the lease. Some landlords would allow it and some wouldn't, and you could just choose to live in a building that didn't allow it if you didn't want to deal with it. I'm completely in favor of lease terms being strictly enforced. Regarding crime and fires it sounds like we may have to agree to disagree. My perspective as a New Yorker may be different from people elsewhere. The idea of travelers in my neighborhood does not fill me with dread for my life and limb, but of course I already assume there already are many travelers in my neighborhood on any given night. Finally, the fact that an argument has been used by someone in support of their political goals has pretty much no correlation with whether that argument is valid. Talk about disingenuous...
- sami36 14y ago>> When you effectively run a hotel in a residential area by being an "avid AirBNB user", you expose your neighbors to more risk than they bargained for, without compensating them. That's nonsense.
- tgrass 14y agoNonsense? How is that different than a regulatory takings?
- sami36 14y agoHow about regulations in the hotel business are about collecting extra property taxes revenue not managing the risk profile of hotel patrons. EDIT : They are MOSTLY, almost exclusively concerned with raising extra-taxes, in a few cases they also deal with environmental risk. Are you arguing my point for me ? That's exactly what I'm saying, Zoning (for hotels) is about taxes, not some imagined increased safety risk to be managed due to a high presence of transient residents
- tgrass 14y agoZoning regulations are not designed for taxes. [EDit] I wouldn't use the language "risk profile", but the zoning laws are clearly about the use of the property. As far as the taxes, I work in land development and have studied planning. Taxes may be an ancillary effect of zoning but they are by no means a primary one.
- sami36 14y agoWe don't disagree. I was arguing the point advanced by some that hotel tenants represent a safety risk . Alright then, help me with this. In the context of Hotels. Say a 4*+ hotel. What are the zoning folks occupying themselves with ?
- tgrass 14y ago@sami36, below you asked "What are the zoning folks occupying themselves with ?" Zoning folks just follow a set of rules/uses for any parcel. A rezoning application is usually a public process, to engage the neighborhood, which speaks to the purpose of zoning: it is intended to promote the general welfare of the community. I am not a big fan of zoning, I'm just saying that as the law stands some Airbnb hosts flaunt the zoning laws.