Watch the “Dark Gothic MAGA” video blowing up on YouTube along with the Behind the Bastards podcast eps. on Curtis Yarvin and Peter Thiel. Finish it up with a look at https://electiontruth.bsky.social for a pretty complete picture of the ongoing techno-fascist coup. Literally changed dem votes to Trump. 😅
Figures. Saw it as a shitty company, avoided it for years. But I had little idea who ran it --there are just multiple scammy aspects to the website, attempts to cheat renters AND guests. Horror stories you read. People said to boycott it because of Gaza but one can tell they're creeps.
I've heard others speak of it positively; some people have issues with the short-term rental business as an industry--but my current concern is with people who don't, well, doge phone calls from fascists.
Air BnB is awful. VRBO is much better, and not as bad on locals if you rent a home in a 'vacation' area like the beach town that's already full of houses only available for short term rental. (Or maybe more--it's impossible to get rid of websites for beach houses for rent in beach towns.)
It makes sense, because VRBO existed as a short-term rental listings service well before the app era, so they actually have a history of working within local regulations.
How do? It’s not cheaper than a hotel, you have to pay exorbitant fees and cleaning charges on top of the rental cost, PLUS do your own cleaning. It’s the hospitality equivalent of the washable paper plate.
To say nothing of the fact that Airbnb materially changes the neighborhoods that STRs operate in for the worse for the people who live there. Flats are bought by investors making housing unaffordable for locals.
AirBnB is actually the worst, as are people who champion it. Stay at a hotel, stop taking long-term housing from people who need it. Hotels won’t make you run the dishwasher or take the trash out or strip the beds and then still charge you $200 for “cleaning”, either.
it’s both a good product (i, too, prefer to stay in a homey environment by myself) and a city-wrecker. i can see it getting away from the latter if it were strictly regulated (as in, rent-by-resident only, for a max of something like 4 weeks a year)
The answer to this problem is more housing stock. If a city is incapable of providing adequate housing that its residents can afford, then they should implement policies to limit short term rentals. Many just take a laissez faire approach which winds up pushing out residents.
Yeah. I did know people who had apartments in NYC that they lived in but would rent out a few weeks a year when they went on vacation. If the policies were tailored for that kind of use it doesn’t strike me as inherently bad, but they’d have to be well-drafted & strictly enforced.
That would help. But even just aggressive tax collection on airbnb income + good policy would do. Basically limit rentals by address to 4 weeks or w/e and tie that to the taxpayer registered at that address. No corporate ownership, no long term rental.
This is the new "boys club" that has a golden opportunity to get hooks into the government like never before. If you thought it was bad when the bankers or railway men got leverage... we ain't seen nothing yet.
Don't get me started about how I recognized Airbnb as an evil entity from the start just because the Tra-la-la travel class was buying multi-family homes in my (now formerly) stable lower middle class neighborhood in PVD and withdrawing apartments from the long-term market to profit from...Airbnb.
YEAH. That's kind of interest. They had an evil vibe, scammy vibe for years. I was thrilled when Spain made these illegal even if it's super convenient for visitors. Everyone needs to do this.
Do what thou will, ignore the law, if it grows & they complain, of the laws you break, then you make a deal with the lawyers: delay, delay so you can make more money to defend the money you are making off the advantage of breaking the law without penalty.
I remember talking to the highest paid music expert lawyer dude supposedly in the whole country. And he clearly let us know that our project sounded wonderful and good for folks, but see whether it is legal is not relevant, how much money can you spend to defend your right to do it, is what matters.
We were disappointed but he said it was okay, it could be tweaked to take more money from folks and then we could make it work by hiring the right folks to take care of stuff and smooth the rough spots. We didn't do it. Oh, and we didn't pay, a friend, of a friend got us a free consult.
See if there’s an actual taxi company in the area that’s following regulations and laws first, they might have an app. And check public transportation, too! A green flag is if their website explains how to use their services in detail before even downloading anything.
Comments
https://electiontruth.bsky.social for a pretty complete picture of the ongoing techno-fascist coup. Literally changed dem votes to Trump. 😅
Equal parts horrifying and hilarious, to me at least.
https://www.entrepreneur.com/green-entrepreneur/10-billionaires-stepping-up-to-fight-climate-change/446344
If you're trying to act on climate change, they essentially do nothing. The carbon is already out of the atmosphere.
https://www.vox.com/down-to-earth/22949475/ocean-plastic-pollution-cleanup
only really works for a room in a place though.
Deleting my account.
Do what thou will, ignore the law, if it grows & they complain, of the laws you break, then you make a deal with the lawyers: delay, delay so you can make more money to defend the money you are making off the advantage of breaking the law without penalty.