I read the article, too. I’m still trying to figure out how Airbnb has any relevance to addressing a “housing shortage.” I don’t think the author has a clue what he’s talking about on this subject.
Why is this so hard to understand? The guys who started AirBnB came up with the idea after having trouble finding affordable places to rent in San Francisco, and had to rent out one of the rooms in their loft as a mock "bed and breakfast" in order to make ends meet. They trialed their idea during big conferences in SF where conference attendees couldn't find hotel rooms and didn't have a mechanism for finding potential properties to rent.
This has nothing to do with zoning issues and everything to do with crony politicians bought and paid for by the hotel industry getting beaten by the voters.
This is a great development for crying out loud. Uber in San Antonio and AirBnB in San Francisco have proven you can fight city hall, and WIN. There's no reason for a pro-market, pro-liberty person to bitch.