Airbnb is a part of the reason. There are studies out there that show that the rents in nicer neighbourhoods have gone up more than the average increase in the city. It is easier for the landlords to Airbnb the unit and make more money compared to renting it out long term. This decreases the supply of available long term units, which in turn increases the rent. Now is Airbnb the only cause for increase in rental prices? Hell no, but it definitely is a catalyst. I do think that Airbnb is beneficial if it was used the way it was meant to be, but it just has become another investment avenue for the rich now while fucking over people who actually work and live in the city but can't afford to buy a place.

It’s clearly increasing the price over what it would be. Just because X is affordable does not make X + a little bit more affordable.

So, now you not only displace people from that location you want the displacement to casecade across the rental market forcing large numbers of people to have a worse commute and or pay more in rent. Perhaps some people could possibly have a major problem with that idea.

PS: You can actually just search locations on Airbnb it’s rather concentrated magnifying this impact.