IF YOU HAVE TO ASK…
RE: “An 11-Story Lifestyle Hotel May Replace One of Portland’s Favorite Food Cart Pods” [Blogtown, Nov 15], Chad Walsh’s story about plans to build a 179-room lifestyle hotel at the corner of Southwest Alder and 10th—the current home of food carts that include Food Koma, the Dump Truck, and Nong’s Khao Man Gai.
Are we supposed to know WTF a “lifestyle hotel” is?
Euphonius
If you don’t know what a lifestyle hotel is, you probably can’t afford to stay in one. (Seriously though… my sentiments exactly. WTF indeed.)
jerryledbetter
UBER NERDS
RE: “Uber’s Bitterest City Council Foes Finally Have the Votes for a Crackdown” [News, Nov 15], News Editor Dirk VanderHart’s piece about how city council members Amanda Fritz and Nick Fish, among others, are taking a “harder line” against transportation network companies such as Uber and Lyft. The decision is a reaction to Uber’s actions in Portland, which include illegally operating within the city and denying rides to passengers the company suspected of being city regulators. Uber’s actions, Fish noted, have “reflected a corporate culture that had utter disregard for the communities they were involved in.”
Where is the same level of hate for Airbnb? It’s ruining many PDX neighborhoods.
cully
I am all for trying to create an environment in which Uber and Lyft don’t block bike lanes or do other illegal things in the course of their operations. (Dedicated pick-up/drop-off points could help quite a bit.) That said, kicking all ride-sharing companies out of Portland is a great way to increase drunk driving. If Fritz has an idea of how to move people around the city better than ride sharing, I am all ears—but as long as TriMet basically shuts down prior to last call, we will need some sort of point-to-point transportation system.
econoline
Fuck the sharing economy. Kick out Uber and Airbnb and the other companies that don’t care about regulations or the safety of their customers and employees. The number of incidents of violence and discrimination involving these two companies is high, and the companies only care about their profit margins and PR. Everyone just LOVES these companies until they’re the rape or robbery victim, discriminated against, or otherwise wronged—at which point they find out they have no recourse, because there are no rules and no regulations.
Christina Rae
We are not losing anything by requiring the ride-share companies to be good citizens. I have refused to take Uber for years based on its terrible ethics. I have zero issue with cabbies and the occasional Lyft driver. If Uber opts out, new companies will opt in. The ride-share industry is booming. Kick ’em out!
MadeinOregon
WEED 101
RE: “Sativa Science Club: Cannabis Class Is in Session” [Blogtown, Nov 17], Josh Jardine’s post about Sativa Science Club, a business aiming to “certify” cannabis professionals and advocates.
I am not sure which department to send a cannabis-related email to. I love that I am even writing the question! Anyways, loved the article and can’t wait to buy tickets for family members. Thank you all so much for not being the Willamette Week.
Red Rings
MadeinOregon, your common-sense observation—that “We are not losing anything by requiring the ride-share companies to be good citizens”—has earned you the Mercury’s letter of the week, along with two tickets to the Laurelhurst Theater! Go enjoy a movie! (How you get to the theater is up to you.)
DEPT. OF CORRECTIONS
In our print version of “Ibeyi’s Songs Come Full Circle” [Music, Nov 15], we wrote that the cajón is a Cuban instrument. It is originally from Peru. The Mercury regrets the error, and the individual responsible has been executed.
If all of airbnb were good or all of airbnb were bad it would be easy to deal with this issue. But the truth is that part of airbnb is good and part is not.
There are two primary types of airbnb rental listings: 1) airbnb host-resident “Private Room” rental listings and 2) airbnb host-absent “Entire Place” listings. As described below, many cities treat both types of airbnb hosts the same. Doing so creates unnecessary confusion and political discord.
With this in mind, I have looked at this issue for over 2 years in Portland and nationwide. I edit a BLOG about airbnb ( http://www.TheAirbnbAnalyst.com ) My conclusions are these:
1) airbnb host-resident “private room” rentals (where the host is resident during the guest’s stay to host the guest) should be encouraged and supported. The City may decide to limit these to a maximum of two guest rooms. These are really micro-B&Bs and do not create traffic, noise or parking problems. And, at worst, they only limit the number of long-term roommate rentals. They usually offer a great value to the traveling public including friends and visiting local residents and hospitals. This is where airbnb started and shines. Usually at public hearings you only hear heart-warming testimony from airbnb “private room” hosts. (As an innkeeper of a traditional B&B, I have hosted over 25,000 guests over 15 years and can tell the same heart-warming stories.) It is a mistake to alienate these airbnb hosts.
2) airbnb host-absent “entire place” (whole house or apartment) rentals when offered on an ongoing basis should be treated as “vacation rentals”. These rentals create the airbnb horror stories and irritated neighbors. These rentals tend to as expensive as traditional hotels and B&Bs. If there is a housing shortage, these “entire place” rentals convert month-to-month rentals for locals to short-term rentals for tourists just so the property owner can make more money renting short-term than long-term. Also, I believe these rentals have become the larger part of airbnb revenue because the nightly rental is more expensive. For example, in Portland, Oregon there are over 2,000 “entire place” listings most of them unlicensed. “Vacation Rentals” are not new, but existed mostly in resort areas. And, Vacation Rentals have been heavily regulated for decades in these resort areas. What is new is the concept of an “urban vacation rental”. Previously the closest you came in cities was “corporate housing”. Each city needs to decide how many “vacation rentals” they want to support. Airbnb “entire place” rental hosts generally do not testify at public hearings.
3) There is also a grey area in between. These include accessory dwelling units (ADUs), two flats, mother-in-law apartments, and vacation homes that are occupied by their owners for 3 or more months a year. Each City needs to decide how to regulate these based on their housing priorities.
A final point, airbnb’s impact on local housing varies by neighborhood. Some areas are affected greatly, others not at all. Looking at citywide averages (provided by airbnb) can be misleading.
To learn more check out http://www.theairbnbanalyst.com
The real problem in this city is trimet. Let’s compare murders and stabbings on Uber vs trimet. We fuxking subsidize the shit out of trimet too.