Airbnb in Nawbany: To tax or not to tax?

My Main Street neighbor Josh Pavey and councilman Al Knable provide talking points in the video, which you can view by following the link.

If the deity is to be thanked for small favors, here's one: Bob Caesar does not appear.

Since no one asked me, I'll offer this hint to those in favor of regulating and taxing Airbnb properties: You do not want Bob Caesar as your spokesman.

You're welcome and can buy me a beer some day.

New Albany officials weighing pros and cons of Airbnb regulations, by Chris Sutter (WDRB 41)

NEW ALBANY, Ind. (WDRB)-- Josh Pavey's grandmother just got done with a big facelift to her classic home on New Albany's mansion row.

"She just recently repainted the entire outside of her house, redid the facade, the woodwork," he said.

She's been able to do it because of the extra money she's bringing in after opening her doors to visitors. Her home is an Airbnb.

"It's been a huge asset to her," Pavey said about his grandmother.

She's part of a growing trend in New Albany. A new spot in the southern Indiana city seems to pop up on Airbnb.com daily. The winds of change don't go unnoticed by lawmakers. Talk is beginning about how to properly regulate the new businesses.

"I'd like for there to be discussion from the public, public input, about what they want their neighborhoods to look like," said City Councilman Al Knable.

He's decided to get the conversation started.

Harvest Evasion 2016 in Madison WI, Day One: Ha Long Bay or funnel cakes? Hmm, let me see.

Like the wise guy said: No gin -- no Tonica.

The route to Madison, Wisconsin does not lead through Chicago, because who wants to drive through Chicago without stopping for a while?

It's better to head north to Indy, west via Champaign to Bloomington, then north again, cutting like a dagger through the farmland of central Illinois, past Rockford (hometown of Cheap Trick), to the Wisconsin border. We learned this way during those many years transiting to the Great Taste of the Midwest, America's second oldest and best beer festival.

The world keeps changing, and so does Madison, but Wisconsin's state capital remains a somewhat blue city. The University of Wisconsin keeps things youthful and smart; the food and drink scene rocks, and the outdoorsy vibe impresses, especially when the weather is gorgeous and autumnal.

We found a basement apartment through Airbnb, conveniently located just off South Park Street, steps away from Monona Bay. Before check-in, there was dinner at our favorite Asian restaurant on Williamson (Willy) Street: Ha Long Bay, featuring Vietnamese, Thai and Laotian cuisine, and of course, local Wisconsin beer.

Nearer our room, post-meal beers were taken at Rockhound Brewing Company, a recent addition to the Madison beer scene.

Has evading Harvest Homecoming ever been this fine?

Airbnb pushes back: "Bias and discrimination have no place on Airbnb, and we have zero tolerance for them."

On our recently concluded vacation, we spent six nights at two Airbnb properties, one in Vermont and the other in Massachusetts. Both of them were excellent.

I was aware of Airbnb's recent bad publicity with regard to discrimination, perhaps summarized by this paragraph from a New York Times story in June.

The long-simmering issue was inflamed last month when an Airbnb host in North Carolina made hateful, racist posts in canceling a booking by a black guest.

On the day we returned from the trip, the following e-mail appeared in my inbox.  Airbnb's CEO explains what's to be done about it. The full report is here (pdf).

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Dear Airbnb community,

At the heart of our mission is the idea that people are fundamentally good and every community is a place where you can belong. We don’t say this because it sounds nice. It’s the goal that everyone at Airbnb works towards every day – because we’ve all seen how when we live together, we better understand each other.

Discrimination is the opposite of belonging, and its existence on our platform jeopardizes this core mission. Bias and discrimination have no place on Airbnb, and we have zero tolerance for them. Unfortunately, we have been slow to address these problems, and for this I am sorry. I take responsibility for any pain or frustration this has caused members of our community. We will not only make this right; we will work to set an example that other companies can follow.

In June, we asked Laura Murphy, the former head of the American Civil Liberties Union’s Washington D.C. Legislative Office, to review every aspect of the Airbnb platform, and to make sure that we’re doing everything we can to fight bias and discrimination. Thanks to Laura’s leadership, today we’re releasing a report that outlines the results of that process. You can read the full report here, but I’d like to highlight four changes that will impact the way our platform works:

Airbnb Community Commitment

Beginning November 1, everyone who uses Airbnb must agree to a stronger, more detailed nondiscrimination policy. We aren’t just asking you to check a box associated with a long legal document. We’re asking everyone to agree to something we’re calling the Airbnb Community Commitment, which says:

We believe that no matter who you are, where you are from, or where you travel, you should be able to belong in the Airbnb community. By joining this community, you commit to treat all fellow members of this community, regardless of race, religion, national origin, disability, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation or age, with respect, and without judgment or bias.

Open Doors

We’ll be implementing a new policy called Open Doors. Starting October 1st, if a Guest anywhere in the world feels like they have been discriminated against in violation of our policy – in trying to book a listing, having a booking canceled, or in any other interaction with a host – we will find that Guest a similar place to stay if one is available on Airbnb, or if not, we will find them an alternative accommodation elsewhere. This program will also apply retroactively to any Guest who reported discrimination prior to today. All of these Guests will be offered booking assistance for their next trip.

Instant Book

We’ll increase the availability of Instant Book, which allows our hosts to offer their homes to be booked immediately without their prior approval of a specific guest. Instant Book makes booking easier for everyone, and our goal is to have 1 million listings bookable via Instant Book by January 1st, 2017.

Anti-bias training

We are working with experts on bias, including Dr. Robert Livingston of the Harvard Kennedy School of Government and Dr. Peter Glick of Lawrence University, to make anti-bias training available to our community, and will be publicly acknowledging those who complete it.

These steps are just the beginning, not the end, of our efforts to combat bias and discrimination.

While we as a company have been slow on this issue, I am now asking you the community to help us lead the way forward. Every time you make someone else feel like they belong, that person feels accepted and safe to be themselves. While this may sound like a small act of kindness, we are a community of millions of people strong. Imagine what we can do together.

Brian Chesky
CEO, Co-founder

"How a failed attempt to get porn off the internet protects Airbnb from the law."

The crux of the Airbnb matter?

It's Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act of 1996, "a much-maligned law that was decried by free speech advocates, dismissed as a 'departing Senator’s half-baked notions' by the New York Times editorial board, and swiftly struck down by the Supreme Court."

How a failed attempt to get porn off the internet protects Airbnb from the law, by Julia Carrie Wong (The Guardian)

Airbnb, like pornography, is a business based on selling a fantasy. Porn offers the simulacrum of a sexual encounter; Airbnb, that of being “a local” in a city not one’s own. There’s less fuss, less muss, and a much reduced chance of STDs and irritated neighbors.

At least, there’s less fuss for the visitors. Cities around the world, however, are waking up to the headache of hosting transient populations in previously residential neighborhoods, and attempting to crack down.

But while local politicians in Reykjavík, Berlin, and Barcelona are taking a stand against Airbnb, their counterparts in the United States have struggled to come up with regulations that have teeth.

Airbnb: But of course hotels are opposed to inexpensive rooms in desirable locations.

Some cities are cracking down on the sharing economy.

One that isn't should come as no surprise.

Not all city authorities are reacting to Airbnb so negatively. In February Amsterdam became the first city to pass an "Airbnb-friendly law", when new legislation was created – with the sharing economy in mind – that permits residents to rent out their homes for up to two months of the year to up to four people at a time.

For our next two holiday trips, we've already booked four Airbnb stays in three countries. We're also considering renovating one of our rooms to share with others; there are a couple of listings in New Albany already.

Airbnb's legal troubles: what are the issues?, by Will Coldwell (Guardian)

As Airbnb finds itself under growing attack from city authorities around the world – this week receiving a €30,000 fine in Barcelona – we look at the controversy surrounding the holiday rental site

Airbnb and the "sharing economy."

I had no idea the air mattresses were to be taken literally. We used Airbnb in 2010, several friends have done so since, and there have been good experiences all around. Perhaps the next step for the 1117 East Spring Street Neighborhood Association is to get on the list?

Welcome to the ‘Sharing Economy’, by Thomas L. Friedman (NYT)

IT all started with air mattresses ...

... On July 12, (Brian) Chesky told me, “Tonight we have 140,000 people around the world staying in Airbnb rooms. Hilton has around 600,000 rooms. We will get up to 200,000 people per night by peak this summer.”