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PhineasSwann t1_jdizds5 wrote

Julie Marks has done a great job of putting the "just little people renting out a room" narrative to fight regulations and investigation into the serious impact STRs have had over the past decade in taking LTR stock out of circulation. It's a shame there's no organization to refute her propaganda directly. The Vermont Lodging Association sometimes does, because they want STRs to follow the same rules/inspections/laws/guidelines that inns and real B&Bs do. But unfortunately, their viewpoint quickly gets tarred as "they just don't want the competition." (Full disclosure: I own a small B&B, but also list on AirBnB).

The STR survey Lamoille County did show that 60% of residents said they'd had a negative experience with an STR in their community. That was eye-opening.

It's a difficult subject. In our community, yes, most of the formerly-LTRs-converted-to-STRs service the local ski tourism economy. But unfortunately, if you want to work for that economy, there's no place here to live - you have to commute an hour or more to get here.

For those who keep trying to disconnect the cause-and-effect, just plot two charts: The decline in long-term rental stock 2013-2023, and the exponential growth of short-term rentals from 2013-23.

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Twombls t1_jdjdsaj wrote

Whats funny is under most antiairbnb regulation. The "small guy renting out a room" is largely unaffected. They usually still allow renting out rooms or entire residinces that count as a primary residence.

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headgasketidiot OP t1_jdjl6bi wrote

Yeah it's the classic capitalist propaganda that convinces people to have solidarity with capital by talking about your sweet little neighborhood small business or whatever. Just cause? That's the state forcing your nana to let that deadbeat live in her attic in perpetuity, never mind that the rule doesn't apply to that situation in ten different ways. Airbnb? What about that sweet old retiree just trying to keep up their house? Etc.

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No-Ganache7168 t1_jdkk9xh wrote

Marks is a propaganda machine. When our town limited airbnbs to one per owner last year she spoke to our planning board about how this was a bad idea bc they bring money into communities. Well, Julie so do people who actually live and work here year round.

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