[cnelsenmilt]

Yes, but AirBnB units are not that. The prices are an order of magnitude higher than prevailing monthly rates, if they're even available on a long-term basis. And yes, short term, furnished rentals probably also have a place in the market. But it's a small place. The vast majority of people need a location that's stable on an annual+ basis and whose price has a reasonable relationship to local wages.

[notch898a]

The problem I ran into when I lived in Chicago was there were quite a few renter protections built into the city statutes. So landlords were quite weary of renting to someone like me with bad credit and rental history, as eviction could be burdensome. AirBnB allowed long term residents like me to actually get a place to stay by side-stepping renter protections and allowing a landlord to take a chance on a bad apple. Without AirBnB I would have been homeless.

[vanilla_nut]

I think you would have been even better off with the cheap halfway houses that used to exist in American cities in the early 20th century. AirBnBs are so expensive I'm not sure they really fill the economic gap you're talking about -- very, very few people who can afford to stay in an AirBnB long-term also have poor credit and rental history.

[cnelsenmilt]

That's fair, and as I said they have a place, but I think we can agree it's not a majority case.