Shared City

What struck me in this post (apart from being extremely cute and hipsterish) is that Airbnb is behind it - and while it's true that Airbnb increases occupancy, it's also caters to short-term stays where people are less likely to get involved with their neighborhood.

I often rent a room on Airbnb for a week or two, and typically don't get involved with the neighborhood at all.

- My neighbors are only my neighbors for a week, so I don't bother getting acquainted.

- In a dense urban area, discovering all the nice bars, coffee shops, restaurants in walking distance takes months, which I don't have. I end up going to the top-rated one on Yelp - which is also the one who needs new patrons the least.

- Since I'm traveling with just a suitcase, I'm very unlikely to require the services of a local bike mechanic, car mechanic, etc.

My hosts could be much more involved in this neighborhood than me, but they're often out of town traveling because Airbnb is paying them while they're away so why hesitate?

So it's not clear to me what Airbnb brings to the table here. Maybe it's because I'm mainly traveling for business and spend my days at work? Someone traveling for leisure could have more time to discover the neighborhood. But a close-knit city isn't built with tourists either.