"Advocates liken [short-term rental website] Airbnb to homeowners who took in boarders during the Great Depression," which is horrifying, but what's worse is that some Silver Lake homeowners are complaining that all that financial desperation is getting in the way of their quality of life (the neighborhood council is *considering pushing a ban on the rentals--they've not decided either way yet). As the LA Times puts it, "Critics in Silver Lake say some Airbnb hosts are running virtual hotels, packing homes with throngs of visitors whose sheer presence alters the community feel." While the paper finds that renting out all or part of a home has kept some struggling homeowners from defaulting on their mortgages, Silver Lake Neighborhood Council member Anne-Marie Johnson doesn't buy it: "People have jumped onto that urban myth: 'We had to do it or we wouldn't survive. Then why not run a bordello? If you're really upside down in your house, then have an escort service run out of your house. Where does it end?" Where indeed!? What possible reason could someone have to rent out a room in their house a few days a month instead of getting into prostitution? None! A motion to urge the City Council to ban Airbnb rentals in the neighborhood was proposed and debated in August by SLNC's urban design and preservation committee; they're expected to vote later this month.
· In Silver Lake, some have reservations about vacation rental website [LAT]
· Silver Lakers Want to Ban Airbnb Rentals in Their Neighborhood [Curbed LA]
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