How Airbnb can help communities.
I got a few ideas on how to address Airbnb’s main problem of disrupting communities while talking to a reporter about my post ("Airbnb is harming Amsterdam’s communities").
In most cases, this will happen via a home-owners association (it’s verenigingen van eigenaren or VVE in Dutch, meaning "association of owners").
The requirement for permission will force neighbors to agree on who, how and when Airbnb should be used.
In most cases, neighbors and guests will not interact, but the knowledge that they can see each others’ profiles and have each others’ contact information will make it easier to say hi and harder to be mean to each other.
The neighbors would then check the "I-approve-my-neighbor’s-participation" box and see who is coming when.
Neighbors who have bad experiences with guests (or their neighbor/host) could withdraw their permission at any time, for any reason.
Is this too much power to give neighbors?
Bottom Line A neighborhood is made of connections, rights and duties among its neighbors.
If it refuses to do so in a rush to make damaging profits, then Airbnb should be banned as an anti-social vandal.