[URBAN NOTE] "Rooming house conversions worry housing advocates"

[rfmcdonald]

The Toronto Star's Betsy Powell reports on how a former rooming house on Sherbourne Street is being transformed into an AirBnB hostel. This does not seem like progress.

For 30 years the boxy, Second Empire-style building at 180 Sherbourne St. operated as a licensed rooming house for some of Toronto’s neediest residents.

Today, a vintage chandelier hangs in the ground-floor lobby. Nearby is a welcome sign, checkout policy and display rack filled with maps and brochures about local attractions.

Travellers looking for a bargain find their way to this property “in the heart of downtown Toronto” via online lodging site Airbnb, where host “Silvana” offers 12 units starting at $34 for a “simple room with a single bed” to $100 a night for a room with two double beds.

Airbnb says its hosts are regular people sharing their homes for a bit of extra income with guests seeking an “authentic” travel experience.

Airbnb’s popularity has jumped dramatically in Toronto in the past two years, but critics say it is doing so based on a “sharing” myth — at the same time as it cuts into scarce available rentals and creates unfair competition for the heavily regulated hospitality industry.