Boston Mayor Martin J. Walsh thinks short-term rental companies like Airbnb are having a negative effect on the city's housing market, and he'll walk a fine line to regulate the industry.
Boston Mayor Martin J. Walsh has proposed a bill "that would all but eliminate investor-owned apartments from being rented by the night," reports Tim Logan.
"[The bill] allow people to rent — short-term — a room in their home, or a spare unit in a two- or three-family building, if they own and live in the property," adds Logan.
Walsh believes this kind of legislation can prevent apartments being taken off the market and turned into "de-facto hotels," while also allowing the benefits promised of the "sharing economy": extra cash on the side.
Meanwhile, the Massachusetts State Legislature has spent some of its energy this year considering a tax on short-term rentals.
FULL STORY: Walsh moves to rein in rentals through services like Airbnb
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New Jersey’s second-largest city bans standalone data centers
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EPA erases limits on planet-warming pollution from power plants
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Phoenix announces new on-demand transit service, more frequent RAPID buses
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