I don’t doubt that Airbnb has had some effect on housing prices in many cities, but I suspect the effect of STRs isn’t quite as strong as people think it is.
Desirable places like NYC have always been competitive markets to rent in, and we know that there’s a long term trend of migration toward population centers which is slowly making things worse.
But there’s another factor that seems like it isn’t getting it’s fair share of blame - the accelerant that is social media. There’s been a huge rise in micro-influencers showing us what the good life looks like in desirable places, whether we are talking about a neighborhood of NYC or a western mountain town. A decade or two ago, these desirable places were on the radar of a small number of people (relative to today) as viable places to build a life in, now the pool is much larger.
Airbnb deserves some criticism, but it certainly seems like short term rentals are getting more than their fair share of blame because they are a convenient boogeyman to point at. The end result is that we see regulations like this one that are more punitive than effective.
I can't count the number of cheesy, narcissistic/artistic films I've seen centred around New York/Paris/London where people's accents are overblown beyond credibility and the main protagonist is exceedingly rich to live out the life that they do... but is unaware of their exceeding wealth and is therefore unable to communicate that to the audience.
As a decent earner, I cannot find myself relating to these characters in these settings since its like watching a millionaire discussing their financial problems.... but my girlfriend and her friends all seem to love and relate to the characters and the depicted "normal" lifestyle, despite sharing nothing in common.
This reminds me of the Sex and the City effect of the early 2000s. It affected/ influenced women quite a bit in their not only moving to the city, but their behaviors, dating habits and dress (remember the cargo pants with heels?)
the discrepancy is because those shows are about Prince Charming, in a 20th century setting
and that fantasy of being subsidized by said obliviously wealthy is probable enough to attain by your girlfriend and her friends if they focus on that part of their culture
if this option was available for you it would be something to fawn over and much easier to relate
You're underplaying the STR effect to a degree that suggests you have not experienced it.
I rented in NYC for more than 20 years, coming and going as life and work demanded.
Beginning in about 2015, it felt like half of the acceptable rental apartments in desirable neighborhoods disappeared - all lost to SRT.
Not only did that make finding an apartment harder, it dramatically increased landlords' leverage wrt pricing and lease terms.
On more than one occasion we had to rent vie AirBnB - at in insane markup over markets rents - while searching, full-time, for a place to live longer term.
Maybe opposite is true as well. NYC is horrible smelly place with old buildings, failing infrastructure and rats!
Before YouTube, most people know New York only from highly unrealistic sitcoms like Friends. Now you can have virtual tour through several apartments and streets, and see it for yourself.
Desirable places like NYC have always been competitive markets to rent in, and we know that there’s a long term trend of migration toward population centers which is slowly making things worse.
But there’s another factor that seems like it isn’t getting it’s fair share of blame - the accelerant that is social media. There’s been a huge rise in micro-influencers showing us what the good life looks like in desirable places, whether we are talking about a neighborhood of NYC or a western mountain town. A decade or two ago, these desirable places were on the radar of a small number of people (relative to today) as viable places to build a life in, now the pool is much larger.
Airbnb deserves some criticism, but it certainly seems like short term rentals are getting more than their fair share of blame because they are a convenient boogeyman to point at. The end result is that we see regulations like this one that are more punitive than effective.