#shared city

There has been a lot of discussion in Beacon -- from the City Council to the Beacon Citizen -- about Airbnb. Some have attacked the 'collaborative economy' concept of renting out spare rooms to strangers as only a few inches better than flop houses and prostitution, while other extol the practice as a means to bring visitors to town and to help resident make a few bucks on otherwise empty bedrooms.

In Beacon, there are legitimate concerns about parking congestion and noise that might accompany increased numbers of Airbnb visitors. Speaking as a Beacon resident, I might be less than enthusiastic about my neighbors participating in the collaborative economy if I had to deal with dozens of cars in the street in front of my house, and people coming and going late at night.

Wait a second. That's what happens already, and it's not Airbnb, it's just the neighbors and their friends coming and going at 1am (or 2am) on the weekends. (And don't get me started on the barking dogs.) 

Still, there is no doubt that some people might be inconvenienced by a higher number of cars parking in their neighborhoods by Airbnb visitors, and that concern cannot be dismissed out of hand.

The City's concerns are different from just those of residents, since the City has to worry about the indirect expenses that such visitors might cause the City.

Brian Chesky, the founder of Airbnb, has announced a new initiative called Shared City that may allay some of the City's concerns about Airbnb.

In a nutshell, Airbnb proposes the following in a pilot program in Portland Oregon: Airbnb would collect a tax on rentals of 11.5%, and would direct 6% lodging tax to the City of Portland and 5.5% to Multnomah county, to be paid quarterly. At present, the Shared City proposal is that it would be up to the hosts to decide whether to charge the taxes to the renters, but the City (or county) could require that those who want to rent through Airbnb would have to agree to the taxes being withheld as a requirement for getting a permit.

I believe that it is in the best interests of Beacon -- particularly as it has so few lodging alternatives -- to allow Airbnb rentals (see What should Beacon do about Airbnb rentals?).

The Shared City initiative might be something we could explore with Airbnb, and provide a small revenue source to offset the slightly higher wear-and-tear that such visitors could cause us.

Given that the city might be making $10 per night or more for visitors, the 'cost' to the city of slightly more congested parking would be offset. Imagine if only 30 households rented only 10 times a year for only $100 per night: the city would get over $1500, which is more than enough to cover the costs of administering the permitting and then some.

More than a quarter of qualifying European cities applied for Bloomberg Philanthropies Mayor's Challenge. What kinds of initiatives do these cities have their hopes set on? 

The U.S. Census Bureau has released new data and research on migration flows in the U.S. The research reveals the nuances of American fluidity, including information on specific demographic groups. 

"Let’s assume you can get your hands on the professional-grade equipment needed to produce at any sort of scale, without going into significant debt. You will still have to contend with a bevy of local and state health regulations, some of which outright ban wide commercial sale of food stuffs made in home kitchens...

That’s the problem that the "kitchen incubator" is meant to solve."