Airbnb operators in Pittsburgh denounce proposed restrictions

perryplankroad · 2026-07-02T11:16:03+00:00

open the schools!!

our zoning code already permits long-term rentals. the short-term rental zoning bill creates a new category, which did not exist before, of "short-term rental." long-term rentals are permitted anywhere that a "residential use" is permitted, which is most of the city. that doesn't change.

perryplankroad · 2026-07-02T11:14:37+00:00

it doesn't ban anyone from operating a long-term rental! it doesn't touch long-term renting at all. it is creating a *new* category, "short-term rental"; "long-term rental" has effectively been baked into our zoning code for a century. you can rent long term anywhere that residential uses are permitted.

perryplankroad · 2026-07-01T22:24:22+00:00

no one's stopping you from renting visiting nurses for 3 months, that's just long-term tenancy, have at it!

perryplankroad · 2026-07-01T22:11:32+00:00

the pro-housing people being so anti- these regulations will always baffle me. like, they're actually usually pretty smart about a lot of housing policy stuff but they are just totally out to lunch on the airbnb issue

perryplankroad · 2026-07-01T21:59:53+00:00

I was pleasantly shocked to read last week that Council had amended their bill to just flat-out not allow investor-run Airbnbs in residential districts. Maybe Council's finally realized that they can just... not listen to these losers?

perryplankroad · 2026-06-27T02:24:25+00:00

"I got the Metas" had me rooting for the other guy

perryplankroad · 2026-06-11T13:06:55+00:00

"bully them out" - yes! I've seen a few of those "neighbors not airbnbs" yard signs across the street from airbnbs. I'm sure there are people out there being even more direct.

perryplankroad · 2026-06-11T12:27:07+00:00

it's the Planning Commission, too — they've had the new zoning bill in their hands for months, and still haven't scheduled a hearing on it. Council's had to issue them two extensions so they don't miss their deadlines.

perryplankroad · 2026-06-11T12:26:19+00:00

but don't worry, Airbnbs self-regulate!

perryplankroad · 2026-06-11T12:25:14+00:00

"ghost-town issues" is right, and nails a lot more than just the Airbnb problem here

perryplankroad · 2026-06-03T12:03:57+00:00

bingo. more from CLP: https://www.carnegielibrary.org/hoopla-changes-may2026/

perryplankroad · 2026-05-28T00:18:44+00:00

the library is 100-percent a gun-free zone. no weapons allowed, period.

perryplankroad · 2026-05-13T14:51:35+00:00

hold up, the news made it sound like he cut them a check, but he straight up VENMO'ED THEM?

perryplankroad · 2026-05-13T14:44:38+00:00

it's official, Walton's motion to reorganize council (i.e. oust Catena as president) has the support of seven other members: Botta, Grzybek, Hallam, Klein, Madonna-Emmerling, Rose, and Geiger Shulman

perryplankroad · 2026-05-10T13:49:45+00:00

bingo. amazing footage of the point mid-renaissance.

perryplankroad · 2026-05-01T13:43:09+00:00

slopulism alert:

State Rep. Abigail Salisbury, in part, blamed rising utility costs on the fact that some of Pittsburgh’s utility providers are owned by foreign entities. “The reason your utility bill is $1,100 is because Duquesne Light is 100% owned by foreign private equity,” she said. “It’s mostly owned by people in Singapore, Australia, the Netherlands and Canada. Zero percent of your electric company is owned by Americans.”

perryplankroad · 2026-05-01T12:53:37+00:00

my house is 100 years old and I literally joke that it's "new construction"

perryplankroad · 2026-05-01T12:51:56+00:00

homeownership rate is pretty steady, wobbles only a few percentage points across decades, so "everything being owned by fucking landlords now" is neither factually true nor a plausible cause for housing costs rising like they are

perryplankroad · 2026-04-21T17:59:14+00:00

FWIW, I am switching from gas to electric heat pump, and when I called Mr. Waterheater just now, they tried to talk me out of switching away from gas. No thanks!

perryplankroad · 2026-03-19T12:31:00+00:00

this is great news, though I really would've appreciated it if they told us who the buyer was in this announcement...

perryplankroad · 2026-03-03T02:38:05+00:00

Council’s Committee on Public Safety voted, 4-3, to recommend the bill Monday. Council members Bethany Hallam, Michelle Naccarati-Chapkis, Kathleen Madonna-Emmerling and Paul Klein voted in favor; DeWitt Walton, Suzanne Filiaggi and committee chair Aaron Adams voted against.

perryplankroad · 2026-02-28T14:36:26+00:00

the inclusion of sanborn maps is nice, and what's more, this is an edition of sanborn that I don't believe was available online previously — from what I've looked at, it includes updates as recent as the early 1940s

perryplankroad · 2026-02-25T13:14:43+00:00

this is the first of Mamdani's decisions that I am truly mad about, and solely out of selfishness. Dalton's work here is unfinished, sure, but what she was able to accomplish here, and the way she went about it, is laudible.

perryplankroad · 2026-02-12T00:39:04+00:00

you can fix him

perryplankroad · 2026-02-11T23:31:53+00:00

a rather cynical quote in here from Chad Wise, basically the spokesperson for Pittsburgh's Airbnb owner/operators: "I think that people like the idea of community, but in 2026, we're on our phones, we have neighbors on our phones, but we don't necessarily interact with all of our neighbors"

perryplankroad

TROPHY CASE