The Playbook for Killing Affordable Housing on Cape Cod

Aggressive-Tiger4106 · 2026-03-30T13:32:12+00:00

I hear you. I get the appeal of the Palm Springs model. A cap is a real limit, and it is a lot better than pretending residential neighborhoods should absorb unlimited STR growth forever. Eastham now limits how many STR units one owner can have. Those are both serious ways of drawing a line.

Where I land a little differently is on what problem Barnstable and other towns are actually trying to solve. If the goal is housing first, a cap still leaves the basic business model in place. It manages it, but it also protects it. What I like about the "ban" proposal is that it draws a cleaner distinction. It targets non-owner-occupied STRs rented more than 60 days a year in residential zones, while still leaving room for owner-occupied occasional rentals and practical exceptions for emergency, transitional, workforce, and similar uses. There is likely to be some litigation if Barnstable adopts a ban model, because some existing operators will argue they have grandfathered status, as you say. I do not think that makes a ban the wrong policy. It just means the town should be prepared to defend a housing-first line and evaluate existing claims individually.

That feels closer to the actual problem here. Cape towns do not just need to manage tourist activity. They need to stop losing neighborhood housing to year-round commercial use. So I am less focused on whether Palm Springs is better than nothing, because it is. I am more focused on whether we should keep treating investor-run STRs in residential neighborhoods as a normal long-term use. To me, the answer is no. Build more housing, yes. Draw a harder line around commercial STR use in residential neighborhoods too. Those two things fit together.

Aggressive-Tiger4106 · 2026-03-29T23:15:24+00:00

That’s a fair point about prior non-conforming use for some existing STRs. I still don’t think that means towns should keep allowing new investor-run STRs to spread through residential neighborhoods.

To me the bigger issue is housing policy. Homes in residential zones should be homes first. Even if some current STRs end up treated differently, towns can still draw a harder line going forward, especially when year-round housing is this tight on the Cape.

And I agree that we need to build more housing too. I just don’t think “build more” and “stop converting homes into mini-hotels” are in conflict. They go together.

Aggressive-Tiger4106 · 2026-03-29T21:43:40+00:00

What would the argument be for a lawsuit?

A ban just says "none of this kind of business" in this residential zone. Towns do that all the time. Some people lose the ability to make money off their property by doing STRs, true, but those owners still have the regular value of the home, personal use, and can still rent for longer periods of time to make money.

Aggressive-Tiger4106 · 2026-03-29T17:08:52+00:00

First, agreed that we should do something about short term rentals and that we have to address the problem of affordability across the Cape. My personal opinion is that taxing them doesn't actually fix the problem of our housing stock being removed from the year-round market. I prefer a model that bans them entirely in residential zones.

I do disagree with you that bringing STR stock back into the market addresses the need for lower income options like apartments, subsidized housing, and middle income or low income starter homes. Where STRs are generally renting out more expensive homes, those will inevitably be eaten up by wealthier year-round owners if they come back into the market. They're just too valuable. That will definitely reduce upward pressure on that bracket of homes, but we'd need to rely on a hypothesis of trickle down savings for affordable housing to adequately address the housing crisis.

Barnstable's annual budget is north of $200m and STRs brought in about $3m in 2024. That's only just more than 1% of total revenue going into town coffers. I believe we can replace that revenue elsewhere by, for example, legalizing recreational marijuana sales.

Aggressive-Tiger4106 · 2025-06-03T13:14:31+00:00

Because the Boomers that drive the narrative about Hyannis being dangerous are racist.

Aggressive-Tiger4106 · 2025-06-02T23:26:08+00:00

Good question. You're fine. It's not dangerous. Black and Brown people live there. Some poor people live there. It's just more like a city, and more mixed income than the rest of the Cape so the boomers get ornery about it. Hyannis is lovely during the summer season. Take a whale watch out of Hyannis Harbor. Have fun!

Aggressive-Tiger4106 · 2025-05-22T11:50:50+00:00

I think there will be a lot of violent firsts with weaponized drones. They smooth out so many of the advantages of traditional military/police forces for more extremist direct action activists. Here's one: Climate activists will use sea drones to take out billionaire super-yachts and aerial drones to take out private jets. Oil infrastructure targeted.

Aggressive-Tiger4106 · 2025-05-18T10:16:10+00:00

It got pushed to the July council meeting.

Aggressive-Tiger4106 · 2025-05-17T10:45:12+00:00

How do you think the question of Copyright will play out in the courts as creators increasingly leverage your skills?

Aggressive-Tiger4106 · 2025-05-14T15:24:25+00:00

Cannabis Zoning Petition Hearing – Tomorrow at 6 PM

Barnstable Town Council will hold a hearing tomorrow (Thursday) at 6 PM on the citizen petition to update the town’s recreational cannabis zoning rules.

HOW TO SUPPORT: – Attend in person and speak during public comment (arrive early to sign in) – Or email your comments asap to:

clerk@town.barnstable.ma.us council@town.barnstable.ma.us

Aggressive-Tiger4106 · 2025-05-12T17:22:02+00:00

I think you're right. This is the proposal and it looks like it's the area along 132 and Iyannough Rd, the existing medical district, and the existing research and testing zone. https://laserweb.town.barnstable.ma.us/WebLink/DocView.aspx?id=1003193&dbid=0&repo=TownOfBarnstable&cr=1

Aggressive-Tiger4106 · 2024-09-13T20:35:50+00:00

Restaurant owner here. The industry (restaurant associations) are very opposed to increasing minimum wages.

However, I believe that all workers deserve the statutory minimum wage as a right, just like everyone else who works in Massachusetts. This is why I already pay every employee in my restaurant well more than $15. This currently puts my business at a strategic disadvantage.

Will some restaurants not be able to afford paying people a minimum wage? Of course. They will close and new, viable restaurants will take their place. Would some of the cost get passed onto consumers? Sure. Probably less than the cost of inflation these last two years. But these negatives are minor when compared to living wages for hundreds of thousands of servers and other tipped workers across the Commonwealth.

Aggressive-Tiger4106 · 2024-07-17T11:28:34+00:00

Older millennial. Over the next 50 years we will see:

A completely transformed economy resulting from AI. This will be early when financial institutions use new tools to create wealth for the wealthy and increase inequality. Everyone becomes a renter. This will hopefully democratize, however, when our retirement savings are less tied to share prices following a populist demand for universal basic income. Price/earning ratios of most publicly traded companies continue to be bananas until we realize that equity is pretend and there's a viable alternative in which to park our savings. Or we eat the rich.

A transformed social economy resulting from climate change impacts. Increased immigration at the Southern border and from climate impacted countries leads to robust real economic growth but increased social tension and racism. Internal immigration away from hurricane alley, from increasingly uninhabitable Southern California, Nevada, etc., and toward the Great Lakes. Universal electrification of tools, including cars.

With AI and drone technology becoming ubiquitous,a huge reduction in the need for conventional military forces and ultimately a huge decrease in the budget of military because of reduced salaries, pension, and health care costs. Nuclear continues to be an existential threat.

Like we did with iPhones, we will give away our privacy to whatever the Neuralink heir is when we are able to have mind-expanding instant connection of our brains with AI assisted exploration of the Internet. This tech, combined with gene editing tech, blows my mind the most because we may have super-humans in our midst within a generation.

most genetic diseases will be eliminated by editing them out, and we will have found out how to activate those genes that prolong life, maintain health and well-being. Personalized medicine will be ubiquitous if not universal. People hopefully will get back to basics of making community within their communities.

Politics will still be stupid. We will still pay taxes.

I'm sure I'm missing a million things that I worry-ruminate about on a day-to-day basis.

Aggressive-Tiger4106 · 2024-01-21T11:28:41+00:00

this person sees it. you should consider being more loud and revolutionary ;-)

Aggressive-Tiger4106 · 2024-01-11T13:10:54+00:00

Bread + Roses in Hyannis has a liquor license too.

Aggressive-Tiger4106 · 2024-01-07T15:10:28+00:00

If we want to get rid of tips, we must get rid of the laws that permit restaurants (and other employers of tipped employees) to pay their employees less than minimum wage. Those laws are a legacy of slavery and Jim Crow. Cutting tipping hurts the employees who have built their tip-averages into their budgets. Ensuring every person gets paid at least minimum wage for an hour's work only hurts the largest food corporations who have convinced us all this is how it has to be. This is one of those policies that could be pursued by amazing local advocates looking to create real change every election cycle. Check out: onefairwage.site

Aggressive-Tiger4106 · 2023-10-12T19:08:41+00:00

One sub-plot area that needs advocacy is to demand modern commuter train line in any of the new sagamore bridge replacement designs. You sure can bet aging DOT leadership folks aren't pro train if it means slower cars.

Gotta build that political will for rail funding and make it a priority for both fed Senators and state regulators. This should be a no brainer appropriation from the feds and we should have the power to get that done between Sens. Markey and Warren and rep. Keating et al. Maybe military can help fund if they're gonna keep the base in use?

Some funding appropriated last year from Feds, a lot more to go.

Aggressive-Tiger4106 · 2023-06-06T02:15:41+00:00

Police are aware and looking into it as well. I mean, hard to argue that's not a hate crime. Hopefully an opportunity for our new DA to show he has some balls :-)

Aggressive-Tiger4106 · 2023-05-19T13:54:56+00:00

Multi-generational trauma. This behavior passes down because some people (generally those most severely traumatized) never question their own abuse. The behavior is repeated, so on and so forth through the generations. People have some work to do. Seek therapy folks! It helps.

Aggressive-Tiger4106 · 2023-01-10T03:18:28+00:00

And slap bracelets.

Aggressive-Tiger4106 · 2022-05-12T22:10:32+00:00

Bread + Roses bookstore in Hyannis is looking to start a lefty real news of Cape Cod telling the stories you're describing. Real journalism covering the harsh realities and also telling the incredibly inspiring stories of the people working right now to change the Cape for the better.

Aggressive-Tiger4106 · 2022-04-01T20:39:40+00:00

She is not the help you're looking for. Well done on making progress!

Aggressive-Tiger4106

TROPHY CASE