COMMENTS
Please use the form below to send comments about Short Term Rentals, problems in your area, or thoughts about how to deal with nuisance STRs. Include your name and email if you would like a response.
This section is only for comments. If you would like updates on pending legislation and events affecting STRs, please click SUBSCRIBE and send the form.
If you support STRs, please see the guidelines below before sending your comments. Thank you.
IF YOU SUPPORT STRs
If you support STRs you are probably making money from them in one way or another. If so, there are plenty of multi-million dollar websites and multi-million dollar advertising campaigns from multi-billion dollar corporations with an army of well paid lobbyists all across the nation to support your view.
This website is to provide information, make connections and rally support for the sensible regulation of STRs to protect the peace, safety and integrity of residential neighborhoods, not to provide STR operators with another outlet to disrupt our lives.
When Airbnb provides space in the “Reviews” section of their website for neighbors to comment on STRs in their area we will include a “Comment” section for you on this website.
Support for STRs is usually along these lines:
- “Hey, I’m making good money from STRs.” Fine as long as you’re in a commercial area. Otherwise, you’re not making money, you’re stealing it from the rest of the neighborhood. There are plenty of ways to make money that don’t destroy neighborhoods.
- “I have a passion for hospitality.” Then you should do Home Sharing or work for a big hospitality chain. With “instant booking” and “self check-in” hosts have almost no interaction with STR guests.
- “As a guest I get to live like a local.” Good for you. But locals don’t want to live like transients. With enough transients there won’t be any “local” left.
- “STRs increase tourism, create jobs and pay taxes.” These arguments have been throughly refuted by numerous studies. STRs don’t increase tourism, they steal business from legitimate hotels and destroy hospitality jobs. STR transients cook at home instead of patronizing local restaurants. A true resident pays more in taxes than an STR. STRs provide little benefit to the community, especially when weighed against the costs to the neighborhood. Investor owned STRs benefit a handful of investors and Silicon Valley billionaires at the expense of our communities and quality of life.
HOWEVER – If you have a thoughtful comment in support of STRs that goes beyond these arguments and justifies why they belong in residential instead of commercial areas we would genuinely like to hear from you.