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Peering into the Peer Economy:
<br />Short -Term Rental Regulation
<br />By Dwight H. Merriam, FAICP
<br />You will recall, or if you are a millennial (18 to 34 years old), you might have read
<br />about the mantra that James Carville dreamed up for President Bill Clinton's 1992
<br />campaign: "It's the economy, stupid."
<br />Today, for planners, thanks to the entirely new
<br />perspective brought to us by the millennials,
<br />our theme must be "It's the sharing economy,
<br />stupid." It is called variously collaborative con-
<br />sumption, the peer economy, and the sharing
<br />economy. More than half of millennials have
<br />used sharing services. It is permeating our daily
<br />lives in many ways.
<br />This new ethic about our relationship
<br />to things, to transportation, to where we bed
<br />down, and even to other people has taken us
<br />away from owning and exclusively using, to not
<br />owning, not possessing, and not using alone.
<br />We see the sharing economy in three broad
<br />spheres—transportation, goods and services,
<br />and housing. While our focus here is on short-
<br />term rentals, it helps to understand the larger
<br />context for "home sharing."
<br />RIDE -SHARING REVOLUTION
<br />Transportation may be the most obvious and
<br />most pervasive face of the sharing economy.
<br />Millennials own fewer automobiles than other
<br />age cohorts. Millennials purchased almost 3o
<br />percent fewer cars from 2007 to 2011 (Plache
<br />2013). Why? Because they use short-term car
<br />rentals, public transportation, and ride -shar-
<br />ing services. They are less likely to get driver's
<br />licenses. One-third of 16 to 24 year olds don't
<br />have a driver's license, the lowest percentage
<br />in over 5o years (Tefft et al. 2013). At the same
<br />time, so we don't get too carried away with
<br />this trend, as the millennials age, they will buy
<br />more cars. Forty-three percent said they are
<br />likely to buy a car in the next five years (Kadlec
<br />2015).
<br />This four-bedroom colonial home in Wetherfield, Connecticut, rents for $385 per
<br />night, with a four -night minimum stay.
<br />Ride sharing as a generic term encompass-
<br />es short-term rentals, making your car available
<br />to others, sharing rides, and driving or riding in
<br />taxi -like services brokered online through com-
<br />panies like Uber.
<br />Instead of owning a car, you can rent one
<br />on a short-term basis from companies such
<br />as Zipcar and Enterprise Rent-A-Car. Why own
<br />a car when you can conveniently pick one up
<br />curbside and use it to run errands for a few '
<br />hours?
<br />Sharing a ride and splitting the cost is
<br />made easier with services like Zimride (also by
<br />Enterprise Rent-A-Car), which links drivers with
<br />riders at universities and businesses. You boom-
<br />ers will remember the ride -share bulletin boards
<br />on campus. Same thing.
<br />Got a car, not making much use of it, and
<br />interested in making some money? You can
<br />make it available to others on a short-term
<br />basis through peer-to-peer car -sharing services
<br />including Getaround, which presently operates
<br />in Portland, Oregon; San Francisco; San Diego;
<br />Austin, Texas; and Chicago. They will rent your
<br />car for you while you are away. Cars are covered
<br />with a $1 million policy, and they even clean
<br />it for you. RelayRides connects neighbors to
<br />let them rent cars by the hour or the day, and
<br />if you're traveling more than 14 days, they will
<br />take your car at the airport, rent it for you, and
<br />pay you. You can even do it for boats with Boat -
<br />bound. With the help ofSpinlister, you can con-
<br />nect with others and renta bicycle, surfboard,
<br />or snowboard.
<br />Dwight Merriam, FAICP, founded Robinson & Cole's Land Use Group in 1978, where he represents land owners, developers, governments, and
<br />individuals in land -use matters. He is past president of the American Institute of Certified Planners and received his masters of Regional Planning
<br />from the University of North Carolina and his juris doctor from Yale.
<br />ZONINGPRACTICE 10.15
<br />AMERICAN PLANNING ASSOCIATION 1 page 2
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