About Mike DeSocio

Mike De Socio is a freelance journalist based in upstate New York. He covers cities/communities, climate change and the LGBTQ community.

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Comments

  1. Vanessa says

    Yeah, no surprises to be seen here. And attracting long term renters is also a key factor for economic growth – because folks moving to the area to work will often prefer to rent for a little while, especially younger people.

    Imo regulation of short term rentals will make the most difference. I think there is a very happy medium between keeping locals from income (yoga teacher example) and having a situation as extreme as it is now, where huge chunks of the region are AirBnBs.

  2. Peter Fidopiastis says

    It seems the important question to ask is how many people are looking for a rental in the area? It’s not like there are a number of year round jobs to attract people. Also how about the surrounding towns. The economic impact is more regional in these small towns and short-term rentals plays an important role in that.

  3. Jonathan Gorgas says

    This article states there are 240 STRs in Saranac Lake and compares it to the number of residences in the Village. If you click on the link provided, you will see the 240 is in a huge area, which includes most of Upper Saranac, out to Lake Clear, up to Paul Smiths, over to Rainbow Lake, within a mile of the center of Bloomingdale, all the way down to Wilmington and all of Raybrook.

    To give an accurate picture, you need to consider all the homes in that whole area. When you do, you get an accurate idea of the number of STRs vs Full time residences.

    Is there a problem? Yes. Crisis? Not even close.

  4. Charles M Bechtel says

    The yoga lady is not the only one who depends on the extra income of short term rentals. I purchased a dilapidated 100 year old house that was an eyesore for the neighborhood, sat vacant for years and was in arrears several years for taxes. I planned on short term rentals from the start to help handle the mortgage and taxes. Would it have been better for economic growth if the property was still sitting vacant?
    If local residents do not work for the government, there is not an abundance of wonderful jobs in the Adirondacks. If the Village of Saranac Lake is going to regulate and tax short term rentals will this create a hardship for those who depend on the supplemental income. Hopefully the Village will not throw out the baby with the bath water.
    Ms. Little, the village trustee, mentioned in this article, failed to recognize one of the most significant contributors to the real estate dilemma–COVID-19. People in the cities couldn’t wait to get out and go to “the mountains”, especially since they were told not to come to office but to work from home. “Home” for many became a place on a lake or a mountain ridge in the Adirondacks. And “yes’ they brought their money with them and left it in the numerous restaurants and businesses throughout the Adirondacks. While the country was virtually shut down for a year, the entrepreneurs who had short term rentals in the Adirondacks continued to earn income, income which they in turn invested in their local communities. Should they be punished for that initiative?

    • Lea Cullen Boyer says

      Absolutely stunning how quickly folks loose track of what is making it possible for locals to survive. STRs are the basis of a Local Living Economy in tourist towns like most of the ADKs.

      Ask any carpenter, plumber, house keeper, painter, restauranteur, waitress, health food store owner, bartender, architect, engineer, roofer, artist, designer, yoga teacher, florist, Baker, furniture sales person (to name a few) how busy they are since STRs are growing, they will all tell you they make a great living.

      I’ve watched starving towns flourish and young people open small businesses, and housing stock improve over the past decade that STRs have been pumping up the local economy.

      Big Hospitality can never share enough for the community to prosper in this way.

      Make STRs more welcome and keep big hotel chains from exporting all that visitor revenue out of town.

  5. Laurie C Simpson says

    It’s easy for the homeowners set back and say they are making more money on the short-term rentals it is impossible to find a place to rent and if you do find a place you’re paying outrageous amount $900 for an efficiency in saranac lake is not reasonable
    They need to start charging more to the short-term rentals more taxes it’s not fair for them to sit back and get richer and richer while the poor people are trying to find a place to live and they don’t care about their community it’s sad

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