Nah, I don’t really care about downvotes. I really, really hate Airbnb their hosts and their owners. I hate the entire business model. Like I said, they ruined our neighborhood. So the edit is for the Airbnb host/owner. Also, I’m upvoting you because I enjoy having conversations and reading other points of view. Have a great day!

It’s a good idea and has it’s place. But see my comment about us Americans taking a good thing and trying to wring every penny out of it, thereby hurting the rest of us.

I now live near 3 Airbnbs one of them is right in front of my house, two more just down the street. My city is embracing the Airbnb model. The entitlement the renters have is through the roof. We live on a narrow street, I’ve been living here with most of my neighbors for about 30 years. All of our houses were built back in the early 60s. The driveways are short and narrow which makes sense because back in the 60s it was rare for a family to own more than one car. Today every family in the neighborhood has at least three cars. None of us have ever parked on the street so as not to interfere with traffic or another neighbor trying to get in or out of their driveway. So we have all sacrificed a portion of our yard to accommodate additional vehicles. The renters don’t give a fuck, they’ll park as many cars on the street as they very well please. The trash can, replete with awful smelling shit, stays out on the street for an entire week. You can’t walk by it unless you want to throw up. This also sometimes leads to me having to pick up their trash from my yard. Even though the listing for the Airbnb states no parties the renters will have large gatherings and we end up with five, six, seven cars all parked up and down the street essentially creating a traffic jam right in front of my house. This sometimes leads to me having to wait several minutes before I can pull out of my driveway. And since it’s technically not illegal to park in the street in my city, there’s nothing we can do. Sometimes corporations will rent the Airbnb for their workers and we end up with giant work trucks parked on the street. I’ve sent pictures to the host but the host doesn’t give a damn. I also have an elderly neighbor that goes into full panic mode every time he sees a strange person on the street, so he’ll come knocking on my door asking if I know what’s going on across the street. No matter how many times I’ve explained it to him he doesn’t seem to grasp the concept of Airbnb. I’ve tried telling him that we now live in front of a hotel. He still doesn’t grasp what is happening to the neighborhood. Traffic has increased threefold. It doesn’t help that sometimes the renters think that our yards are part of their rental agreement, often times I find strangers in my yard looking for a lost ball or some other shit, or, in my other neighbor’s yard playing tag football or whatever fucking sport they’re in town for. I could go on and on but I’ll just leave this last statement. Fuck Airbnb, fuck the hosts, fuck the owners of the house, and fuck that entire business model. Can you tell I hate Airbnb?

Airbnb was awesome when it was new. For half to a third the cost of a cheap motel, I stayed with several people in their homes and had great experiences each time that I still remember fondly, far better than I would have had alone in unfamiliar places and even better than most of my free Couchsurfing experiences. Both were great resources for a young traveler. Airbnb has steadily downgraded in quality stays while increasing in price but I still prefer an Airbnb to an equivalent cost hotel, it just feels closer to home.

I’ve been thinking about going to our city council but it looks like our city is embracing the Airbnb model. I think my first order of business is to collect signatures in the neighborhood and then go to our city council. Thanks for the advice!