City leaders around the world are struggling to control the short-term rental market, which many fear is jeopardizing the housing supply and displacing longtime residents.
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“Fearful of seeing long-term rental housing drain away to the tourist market, governments have experimented with a flurry of rules” to regulate short-term rentals (STRs), but no city has quite gotten it right, write Feargus O'Sullivan and Jessica Loudis in Bloomberg CityLab.
Some cities ban short-term rentals altogether; others focus on specific neighborhoods; yet others implement regulations such as owner occupation or caps on the number of nights a property can be rented. “But the effectiveness of these tools and rules have been brought into question in many cities that are struggling to overcome enforcement challenges — and outwit rental property owners who are determined to wriggle around the rules.”
The article describes the situation in cities including Copenhagen, Denmark, where short-term rentals have proliferated despite a ban on full-time STRs. Barcelona, Spain, which enacted strict regulations, still “struggles to control the market. Inside Airbnb estimated that 30% of the 15,655 Airbnb properties listed in the city at the end of June were illegal, having been posted with false license numbers.”
The article goes on to describe policies implemented in cities around the world, but concludes that the landscape will continue to shift as hosts seek out ways to circumvent rules and fees.
FULL STORY: Airbnb Hosts Try to Evade City Regulations, From Copenhagen to Catalonia
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Plan to Potentially Remove Downtown Milwaukee’s Interstate Faces Public Scrutiny
The public is weighing in on a suite of options for repairing, replacing, or removing Interstate 794 in downtown Milwaukee.
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‘Forward Together’ Bus System Redesign Rolling Out in Portland
Portland is redesigning its bus system to respond to the changing patterns of the post-pandemic world—with twin goals of increasing ridership and improving equity.
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Can New York City Go Green Without Renewable Rikers?
New York City’s bold proposal to close the jail on Rikers Island and replace it with green infrastructure is in jeopardy. Will this compromise the city’s ambitious climate goals?
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700-Acre Master-Planned Community Planned in Utah
A massive development plan is taking shape for lakefront property in Vineyard, Utah—on the site of a former U.S. Steel Geneva Works facility.
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More Cities Ponder the End of Drive-Thrus
Drive-thru fast food restaurants might be a staple of American life, but several U.S. cities are actively considering prohibiting the development of new drive-thrus for the benefit of traffic safety, air quality, and congestion.
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Air Pollution World’s Worst Public Health Threat, Report Says
Air pollution is more likely to take years life off the lifespan of the average human than any other external factor, according to a recent report out of the University of Chicago.
Placer County
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HUD's Office of Policy Development and Research
Dongguan Binhaiwan Bay Area Management Committee
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Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority
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