Every haunted house story is really about gentrification

And New Orleans is "the most haunted city in America."

Locals in certain neighborhoods have been complaining about short-term rentals for the past few years. But until the new law passed, it was difficult to know exactly how many there were and where they were concentrated. Since April, the city has been tracking licenses issued to people who want to rent out their rooms, houses or apartments. The Lens and HuffPost partnered to analyze the data.

We found signs that short-term rentals are contributing to the transformation of a handful of the city’s most distinctive neighborhoods, particularly the ones closest to the French Quarter. In 15 neighborhoods, including Treme and Bywater, short-term rentals make up at least 3 percent of residential addresses. That’s a considerable slice of the city’s most desirable real estate.

In the Marigny, next to the Quarter, one in 10 residences are registered as Airbnbs. In the Central Business District, which is seeing a boom in luxury condos, 5.8 percent of residential addresses are licensed for short-term rentals.

More than half of the units in a new building called the Maritime are registered as short-term rentals. In another building, Saratoga Lofts, it’s 28 percent. DeDecker’s housing group has filed a complaint over both buildings, saying their government-backed mortgages don’t allow short-term rentals.

The only thing that Lens and Huff-Po collaboration is missing is a comment from our next mayor saying she doesn't think any of this is a big deal.

“This seems to be in conflict with your cry for more affordable housing,” Head said to Cantrell. She explained later, “I do not believe we should allow the creeping into neighborhoods that are otherwise residential by changing the zoning to commercial.”

The short-term rental issue should not be blamed for the city’s lack of affordable housing, Cantrell shot back. That, she said, was the result of intentional efforts by city leaders after Hurricane Katrina.

“Affordability and the crisis that we’re in in the city of New Orleans is not because of short-term rentals,” Cantrell replied. “It’s because the issue of housing was not a priority in the post-Katrina environment. Resources allocated for the city of New Orleans, millions in fact, were reallocated because there was sentiment coming from policymakers in this city that New Orleans was on the path of having too many affordable units.”

Be safe trick or treating tonight. Here's some stuff we got out and saw this season. 

This year was the 25th for the House Of Shock Horror Show in Jefferson.  They say it's their last. But they've said that before so we'll see.



Here is the Skeleton House on St. Charles and State.




The puns are always pretty good.



This is Ghost Manor on Magazine Street. They added Jack-O-Lanterns this year.



This is a somewhat out of focus video I shot of the skeletons singing Thriller.



There's more to the light and sound show than just that.  Stop by and see it if you are in town.  There are plenty of places to stay in that neighborhood....