Alliance of Cambridge Tenants: Does Airbnb Cause Rents to Rise?

by Shelterforcestaff

TUESDAY, February 19— Q: Does Airbnb Cause Rents to Increase? A: Yes! Since hosts can make 50 to 200 percent more on short-term rentals than on long-term rentals, Airbnb affects purchase prices as well.

Despite its preferred image as a home-sharing platform, Airbnb actually involves tens of thousands of rental units that have been pulled off the rental market entirely, constricting housing supply. Since hosts can make 50 to 200 percent more on short-term rentals than on long-term rentals, Airbnb affects purchase prices as well.

Credit:

Alliance of Cambridge Tenants: www.actcambridge.org/node/1855

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[P.S. Cambridge City Councilor Dennis Carlone, along with Ward 1 Somerville City Councilor Matt McLaughlin, are proponents of AirBNB ... particularly when it comes to providing short-term rentals for both out-of-state & city, transient college students ... which greatly affects local natives (as an additional form of mass-gentrification). However, both would probably disagree with the latter portion of my statement.]

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Note from the Editor:

If you do decide to join the Alliance of Cambridge Tenants (A.C.T.), which is a fine organization; it would be highly in your best interest to NOT become involved with a one Kathy Watkins, as she has quite the notable reputation of being incredibly bossy and beyond rude; which, sadly, has forced some longtime members of many years to leave the organization, altogether. In addition, Kathy Watkins is also affiliated with the Cambridge Residents Alliance.

In addition, a man by the name of Brian A. McCarthy was recently elected to the Governing Board of the Alliance of Cambridge Tenants (A.C.T.) and; it should be made known that Mr. McCarthy possesses a very poor demeanor. In early 2017, while serving as chairman of the now -defunct Somerville Republican City Committee, Mr. McCarthy and his sister were investigated for welfare fraud involving undocumented persons residing within a subsidized dwelling. In early 2018, Mr. McCarthy was investigated by the Internal Revenue Service (I.R.S.) for not reporting income, as he was working "under the table"; and not to mention him being sued by Winter Hill Bank Corporate (Docket: 1510SC000228). Finally, prior to all of the previously mentioned events, Mr. McCarthy, after having been an employee of the City of Somerville for the better part of 20 years, had his employment terminated due to posting politically inappropriate content on Facebook (out of all websites); which is a violation of the City's Personnel Department's standards regarding Character and Fitness. However, to this very day Brian A. McCarthy maintains & insists that he was "blackballed" by Somerville Mayor Joe Curtatone, as there was allegedly an Alex Jones -like "conspiracy" against him.

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The Alliance of Cambridge Tenants (A.C.T.) is one of the Nation's premier tenants rights organizations and, if you are seriously interested in joining them or simply need assistance in regards to a housing matter; I highly, highly recommend that you contact them immediately. However, as with any membership organization, be careful with whom you chose to become involved with.

Third Candidate to Appear on Preliminary Ballot for Mayor of Somerville

I recently wrote in a post that there was a candidate challenging incumbent Joe Curtatone for mayor of the City of Somerville... that candidate being Marianne Walles. There's also a third candidate (including Mayor Curtatone) named Kenneth Van Buskirk III.

A longtime resident of the City of Somerville, Mr. Van Buskirk is now running his second campaign for mayor. He previously campaigned for the office in the 2017, however, he was eliminated in the preliminary election... finishing last.

Former Alderman Jack Connolly is Running for Somerville City Councilor-at-Large