Location and racisim

[JR26]

Recently I have been marked down for location. Guests remarked that they didn't feel "safe walking alone" or "prefer to take an Uber." My downtown is well-lit but my only observation is that we have black people who walk the streets at night. Has any one else had similar complaints and how do you handle it?

[Linda108]

Perhaps your interpretation of some guests' discomfort is accurate but I think people are anxious in a new town for many reasons, especially if they are not well-travelled people.  While your listing title celebrates the history of the building, it does not mean anything to me until I read your description.  I wonder if your listing title could celebrate the diversity and artistic vibe of your location.  If not the title, then in the beginning of the description you might include something like, "For travelers seeking ethnic and cultural diversity, in a historic, artistic part of Wilmington, you will be very satisfied to stay in my home, built in the 1850's."

Just a thought

[Nina204]

@JR26   Yes, I feel you!  It is so frustrating.   I used get dinged all the time on location especially people coming from a certain direction as it takes them through a "sketchy" as one person said neighborhood and my neighborhood is mixed race.   I have what I copied below on my bulletin board next to the house keys and I haven't been dinged since on location!  I'm sure you will have to tweak yours but so far so good!

Some people have expressed concern driving to our home.  The neighborhoods directly surrounding the city are not exclusive to any one ethnicity or income class.  You can have a CEO living in a million dollar home with a dilapidated HUD house right next door.   The real estate in our area has tripled in value and has become a popular place for investors and private home buyers. In fact one of the areas you probably drove through if coming from the airport or the west is actually a perfect example of this. There is a dollar store a few doors away from a high end Italian restaurant (Ala Familia) whose menu goes up to $118 a plate which shows the diversity of the neighborhoods here in the heart of the city.   I am sure for some people coming from the suburbs and cities that are laid out different Pittsburgh has quite a different vibe.  We are proud of that and this is what makes our city so special.  We hope you enjoy our area as much as our past guests!

[Lauris-and-Gene0]

@JR26  I just noticed that your home is very close to ours. After hosting for just 3 months and getting all very positive reviews from guests, we had one guest who said in her review that our neighborhood was "sketchy and unsafe." She wrote a bunch of other stuff that didn't make any sense. She had spoken very little during her visit and definitely had never told me about anything that happened that made her feel unsafe. I can only surmise that the racial mixture of our area disturbed her.