By exiling short-term renters, the coastal city of Santa Monica shifts its housing burden onto neighboring areas. That burden, according to this op-ed, contradicts the city's sustainability commitment and further limits scarce residential options.
Santa Monica occupies prime real estate in coastal West Los Angeles (though it is an independent city), and attracts a sizable tourist crowd. Recently, the city chose to ban short-term rentals of less than 30 days when the owner is absent. "Residents complain that tourists make poor neighbors, hotels resent the competition for guests, and affordable housing advocates say Airbnb drives rents up by removing housing from the long-term rental market."
Paavo Monkkonen and Nate Holmes criticize the decision, writing that the ban "will simply push perceived negatives to other cities and neighborhoods in the region. After all, Santa Monica has not eliminated its own attractiveness as a destination for tourists."
Furthermore, the ban contradicts Santa Monica's environmental commitment: "consider how many people will be adding to congestion on the 10 and the 405 to get to Santa Monica instead of walking or bicycling from a local Airbnb."
Santa Monica's reluctance to allow Airbnb, Monkkonen and Holmes argue, reflects the popular city's wider unwillingness to welcome new residential development.
FULL STORY: Santa Monica’s problematic ban on short-term rentals
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