Interesting - I didn't know about the 11-month lease (vs 12). And I thought Barcelona had put restraints on Airbnb long before NYC did - am I wrong? Maybe the restriction didn't go far enough? Is there really no restraint on Airbnb in the city? (I, too, have soured on that company.) Upsetting that the laws Spain (Barcelona - or the whole country?) have put in place to benefit local renters seems to benefit the agencies more. Errr. As for building more units, I always feel it depends on where and what they will look like. I've seen a good number of developments turn into (what we used to call in Chicago) "projects" - low income units that no one wants to live in unless they have no other choice. And green open space should always be considered.
Gentrification isn’t that bad for owners of real estate. Sure, property taxes go up but so do property values. It’s not actually too bad for spain which has high rates of ownership (nearly 75%) but it’s worse in the US (65%).
This problem compounds with historically disadvantaged folks who have much lower ownership rates so effectively gentrification is pushing rents up for people just on the cusp of being able to live in a neighborhood so they are forced to move.
It’s good for people who can afford it and the owners of real estate (even if they can’t afford the place any more) but it’s bad for renters and service workers in the area who get priced out.
You teased out an important conflict here where expats typically *DO* want gentrification to their home cities/countries where they own assets but don’t want it in the place they’ve moved to (while simultaneously causing it).
Interesting - I didn't know about the 11-month lease (vs 12). And I thought Barcelona had put restraints on Airbnb long before NYC did - am I wrong? Maybe the restriction didn't go far enough? Is there really no restraint on Airbnb in the city? (I, too, have soured on that company.) Upsetting that the laws Spain (Barcelona - or the whole country?) have put in place to benefit local renters seems to benefit the agencies more. Errr. As for building more units, I always feel it depends on where and what they will look like. I've seen a good number of developments turn into (what we used to call in Chicago) "projects" - low income units that no one wants to live in unless they have no other choice. And green open space should always be considered.
Gentrification isn’t that bad for owners of real estate. Sure, property taxes go up but so do property values. It’s not actually too bad for spain which has high rates of ownership (nearly 75%) but it’s worse in the US (65%).
This problem compounds with historically disadvantaged folks who have much lower ownership rates so effectively gentrification is pushing rents up for people just on the cusp of being able to live in a neighborhood so they are forced to move.
It’s good for people who can afford it and the owners of real estate (even if they can’t afford the place any more) but it’s bad for renters and service workers in the area who get priced out.
You teased out an important conflict here where expats typically *DO* want gentrification to their home cities/countries where they own assets but don’t want it in the place they’ve moved to (while simultaneously causing it).
Yep, all this is well said. One other thing is Spain my have high ownership rates, but does Barcelona specifically?