While the debate over affordable housing in San Francisco continues, one new map by the Anti-Eviction Mapping Project shows just how many Airbnb and VRBO rentals there are in San Francisco — over 6,000.
The map comes just 10 days before the San Francisco Short-Term Residential Rental Ordinance, also known as the “Airbnb Law,” takes effect in the city. Not surprisingly, the data shows San Francisco completely inundated with dots for these vacation rentals. The total amount of VRBO listings comes to 1,285 and 5,503 for Airbnb. All of the map’s data is from Airbnb and VRBO, with each marker being within a block of an actual listing to protect the privacy of those renting.
The new Airbnb ordinance is complicated and requires property renters to jump though numerous hoops in order to legally trade their apartments for cash, as Steven T. Jones reported earlier this week. The Anti-Eviction Mapping Project believes the law is not going to do any good for San Francisco, as monitoring each and every one of these rules falls on the Planning Department. Airbnb is not required to monitor listings, ensure the owners are registered, or flag any hosts that rent out their units for more than 90 days.
“[The Planning Department] was not given enough support to enforce this law,” said Erin McElroy of the Anti-Eviction Mapping Project. “It’ll be up to neighbors and activists to make sure the legislation isn’t abused. That’s the city’s job — it shouldn’t be incumbent on vigilant residents.”
With over 6,000 vacation listings between two companies alone, it really makes you wonder who’s a new neighbor and who’s just visiting for a few days. And considering that the number of Airbnb listings has increased from 4,798 last year to over 5,000 now, there’s little chance of the popularity of the short term vacation rentals movement slowing down.
H/t 48 Hills. Top photo courtesy of Anti-Eviction Mapping Project.
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