The Impact of Airbnb on Detroit Neighborhoods – Detroit Community-Engaged Research Program

The Impact of Airbnb on Detroit Neighborhoods

https://www.crainsdetroit.com/government/detroit-planning-commission-consider-regulation-changes-airbnb-other-short-term-housing

This article is discussing about potential new regulation regarding Airbnb in Detroit. This has been a topic that is reoccurring at my community placement. Since my placement has a lot to do with housing and how it is changing/has changed, the issue of frequent new neighbors has come up a few times. The new regulation would place restrictions on who can turn their home into an Airbnb. After hearing from a few community perspectives, I can understand why having so many frequent Airbnb’ers would be frustrating. Especially in Woodbridge, which is known for it’s diverse culture and close knit neighborhood environment, it can be hard to keep watch on your neighborhood when there are so many strangers coming and going. This past week we did home visits about a grant project in the works at WNDC and I also gave out my housing market survey. Several people brought up the Airbnb issue and said that they used to know every person that lived on the block. They would watch the streets and call their neighbor if they were out of town and a car had been parked next door for some time. Since then, Woodbridge has changed. Maybe in part because of the Airbnb and in part because of the rising rents that are pushing neighborhood dwellers out. I think that the tighter regulation on Airbnb would be good especially for Woodbridge in order to keep their close knit neighborhood in tact. While I think there should be more regulations I don’t think it’s fair to restrict someone from renting their homes to Airbnb’ers because it can also be a significant income for some people as well. The regulations in the article seem fair, with major ones stating that you cannot rent to Airbnb for more than 90 days a year and you must be the principal owner of the home. This prevents people from buying up property and continually renting it out.

3 thoughts on “The Impact of Airbnb on Detroit Neighborhoods”

  1. Diamond Buchanan

    Hi Haley! This issue of current Airbnb renters would probably make anyone uneasy but again, there is only so much a person can control. If it is the person’s home on top of their income, the most neighbors could ask is to be notified. Hopefully, you can provide some peace to the neighborhood in order to appease both parties.

  2. I think restricting Airbnb makes a lot of sense because it also drives the property values up in an area, making long term resident’s rents rise and pushing them out. This is a huge a problem in cities like San Fransisco and Brooklyn as well.

  3. Oluwadamilola Zechariah Sado

    I agree with your sentiments about the effects of airbnbs and the regulation of them. I recently read articles about how it is a form increasing rents and prevents people from having a permanent apartment, due to a profit landlords hope to receive from Airbnbs.

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