What do you think about Airbnb’s presence in Boston neighborhoods?

Boston plans to institute some pretty severe restrictions on home-sharing sites such as Airbnb, which facilitate people renting out rooms or entire properties for short spells.

The logic behind the regulations, which are expected to take effect in 2019, is that such short-term rentals drive up housing costs by consuming that much more available stock and that they also seed some areas with de facto hotels and all the turnover that comes with that. (Airbnb et al, of course, dispute these claims.)

All this leads us to our latest open thread: What do you think about Airbnb’s presence in Boston’s neighborhoods? Good, bad, benign?

Do you think Boston should enforce the new regulations with a fury? Or do you think tenants and owners, including investors, should be able to rent out by the night as they see fit? (The new regulations allow certain owners living in their homes to rent out parts of it for limited amounts of time.)

Sound off in the comments section below. Please keep it civil. This is a contentious subject in Boston.

• Boston Airbnb regulations target tenants, investors renting per night [Curbed Boston]
• Boston Airbnb battle takes a turn with mass email about City Council member [Curbed Boston]