Oregon Legal Research Blog
The news that AirBnB plans to set up shop (NA headquarters?) in Portland, Oregon (and that cheers have gone up from people who previously had been wringing their hands about AirBnB) has us scratching our heads. Not that we don’t adore living in Portland, cheer on small businesses, embrace bartering, face the challenge of making ends meet, and all that, but ….
Portland, and lots of other cities, have been wrestling, quite publicly, with the AirBnB business model, which puts customer convenience and cost priorities at odds with local safety and zoning priorities, not to mention tax revenues from locally licensed hotels and traditional B&Bs.
We might blog more about this topic, or we might not since it’s clear there is no shortage of news, hand-wringing, and economic analysis in print and cyberspace on the subject, but I did just see this article at the ABA website. So, if you’ve missed out on the conversation – or are wondering when it’s time for the lawyers and politicians (and lobbyists) to start their engines, take a moment to read: