Is the guy who created a website to map out every Airbnb rental in NYC a hero or a total jerk?

While it's possible to see the general location of rentals on Airbnb's own website, there's never been a way to see every available listing in a city. Until now. A website called InsideAirbnb has mapped all 27,393 Airbnb listings in New York City, using an interactive map to reveal what hosts are renting to whom and when, for how long and for how much.

The site's tagline is "Bringing Data to the Debate," and believes that Airbnb has a negative impact on city economics, stating:

"Airbnb affects the city's housing supply and affordability. Explore the key variables of Airbnb use and how it impacts your neighborhood."

The site was started by a man certain to be labeled a villain by some and a hero by others: Murray Cox, an Australian engineer-turned-photographer who lives in Brooklyn. The map outlines just how pervasive these rentals are while also documenting the specifics related to how often renters are staying with specific hosts. On the about page, Cox shares his position that Airbnb is, in fact, the cause of rising rents and decreasing affordability in New York City.

This particular data map shows that 58.3% of listings on Airbnb in the city are for whole apartments. This conflicts with Airbnb's economic impact studies showing that 87% of its hosts are renting primary homes to supplement their incomes. The data can be further filtered by borough, room type, availability, room type per host, and overall activity.

Here's how the hosting data breaks down further:

The website will also animate reviews over time, so you can visualize how many guests are staying across the city since 2009.

Airbnb recently logged a legal victory in London and has yet to manage anything significant in New York. This data doesn't seem to help its case, although it was created by one person without any sort of third-party verification. Regardless, Airbnb continues its uphill battle.

We're wondering how this guy get ahold of InsideAirbnb in the first place. Didn't the Airbnb get the memo to register domains that include its brand?