It turns out that many of the newly pricey apartments have become virtual extended-stay hotels, which worries Santa Monica Mayor Michael Feinstein. I am interested in a community of committed full-time residents who are not here today, gone tomorrow. We already have a lot of hotel rooms and more than enough short-term corporate apartments, added Feinstein, who also is a California Green Party leader. It s not just the city s social engineers who are concerned. Beyond finances, short-term rentals, say critics, intensify a building s use by increasing traffic and destabilize a community by making its residents more transient.
Anecdotal evidence suggests that the trend is both widespread and wide-ranging.
Developers and landlords contend they are filling a demand whose supply was artificially depressed for two decades by the city s restrictive rent-control laws. There s a demand in all metro areas. Vacancy decontrol has allowed a demand to finally be met. The City Council was expected to take up the matter as early as this week, but only to designate a resolution of the issue as a top city priority. Staffers already are conducting a housing survey to get a handle on the marketplace.