(08-23-2020, 02:53 AM)taylortbb Wrote: If we eliminated all the Airbnbs in Toronto, people wouldn't stop visiting Toronto. They'd just stay in hotels, which we'd now need more of. Land values wouldn't drop, and while the short term effect would be an increased supply of rental units (likely reducing price growth), the long term effect would be fewer condos built, constraining rental supply, and putting us back in the same scenario.
You said it better than I did.
It’s very difficult to achieve positive results in the economy by identifying an apparent problem (really a symptom) and legislating it (the symptom) out of existence. It’s a bit like taking Tylenol to eliminate a persistent pain in the throat. Works great, until you die of throat cancer.
A huge example of this is parking minima. Not enough parking in the City, huh? No problem, we’ll just require all developers to include sufficient parking in their developments. Works great, until half the city is parking lots, public transit isn’t economical, and everything is so far apart that walking isn’t an option for most people.