[pjc50]

In Edinburgh there's a similar discussion, and the proposals I think have value:

1) Tourist tax on all hotel rooms, including AirBnB. Initially a fairly small amount. https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2018/jun/27/edinburgh-le...

2) For whole-unit owner-not-present lets, require planning permission for change of use. You wouldn't be allowed to run a woodworking business in your apartment that inflicted noise on your neighbours, so the same should apply to turning it into a hotel.

3) Keep upgrading the transport infrastructure. The newly rebuilt Border railway is a victim of its own instant success - someone should start the process of widening it to two tracks immediately so it'll be ready in 20 years. And so on.

(Before someone says "build houses", there is a lot of family home construction going on in the outskirts. It's the historic centre that's under consideration, and "demolish the existing 4-6 story historic dwellings and replace them with much taller residential buildings" is an absolute non-starter)

[jermaustin1]

What annoys me about tourists in Edinburgh, is that everyone wants to pile into Old Town, even though it is so small.

No one contemplates Leith or Newington. Neither of those places are beyond a short walk (1-2 miles) to city center, also there are more options for food and drink (especially on Leith Walk).

[briandear]

2 miles isn’t a “short walk” in many parts of the year in Scotland.

[pjc50]

This is definitely one of those things that divides locals from visitors; Edinburgh is a walker's city. I walk a mile up one way and downhill the other as part of my commute. But visitors or women in heels are not going to do that at the end of a night out, and that's also when public transport stops, all the taxis are booked, and Uber is on 3x surge pricing.

The festival makes this worse; the city as a whole becomes overbooked.

But the gentrification wave is heading into Leith. You can practically watch it progressing down Leith walk. I suppose the giveaway will be when someone builds a luxury hotel in the old dockyards.

[jermaustin1]

In most of Scotland, I would agree, but in Edinburgh where the typical low in the dead of winter above freezing, the < 2 miles from Leith to Old Town isn't that bad.