Short-Term Rental Key Locks Serve As Gravestones To Once Tight Knit Inner City Community

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The short term rental key boxes outside an inner city apartment now serve as the hauntingly symbolic grave of a once thriving community.

The lock key boxes, which began popping up more than a decade ago thanks to profit-hungry landlords who can't even be bothered meeting holidaying guests in person to hand over the keys for the weekend, have become a symbol of the slow death of inner city community around the country.

Once the beating heart of working-class culture, the nation’s inner-city neighborhoods have seen their past of young creatives, migrants, First Nations advocacy, union leaders and squatters fade into a distant memory.

That history now feels especially far away when you look at the sheer number of rental key boxes scattered across suburbs where, only a few decades ago, you couldn’t pay a yuppie to spend a weekend.

Glenda Norris (87), a grandmother and resident of a local inner city suburb since birth, claims while the suburb is used to change, the rise of short term stay apps has really hurt the community spirit of the neighborhood.

"Oh I remember when everyone was getting into a tizz over the Italians moving in, but at least people were actually living here instead of the place being a revolving door for holidayers, travelling business people and uni students" she explained.

"These days it feels like the only thing that actually stays in the neighbourhood is the lock box itself." sighed Glenda.