Airbnb has touted its ability to stimulate local economies as one of the platform’s larger benefits for cities, and a recent study suggests that might be true — but only for the city’s primarily white neighborhoods.
The study, conducted at Purdue University, found that white neighborhoods — not their black or Latino counterparts — are most likely to benefit from an influx of Airbnb guests, though Los Angeles was an exception by one measure.
The study found that users of the home-sharing platform generally eat at neighborhood restaurants near where they are staying. However, the spillover effect does not hold true when 50% or more of a neighborhood's residents are black or Latino.
The Purdue team initially focused on the effects of Airbnb on restaurant employment growth in New York City, the most visited, and the most active Airbnb city, in the United States.
The researchers found that neighborhoods experiencing rapid Airbnb growth typically saw a growth in restaurant employment. Such areas also experienced a surge in their share of Yelp reviews by visitors to New York, a measure that researchers said reconfirmed their employment findings.
But restaurants in predominantly black or Latino neighborhoods with high rates of Airbnb bookings did not see a corresponding increase in employment and Yelp reviews.
After analyzing its New York findings, the team then expanded its study to five more cities: Los Angeles; Austin, Texas; Chicago; Portland, Ore.; and San Francisco.
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