Rents rise amid events in US college town

CAMBRIDGE, Massachusetts - Time was when renting an apartment in one of this college town's funky triple-deckers or two-family homes wouldn't cost an arm and a leg.

Now, renting in Cambridge can feel like that - something critics say is made tougher by short-term rental websites like Airbnb, through which property owners can make more money renting out apartments or homes by the night instead of a yearlong lease.

The debate over services like Airbnb - often criticized for essentially turning apartments into hotel rooms, putting upward pressure on housing costs and driving out longer-term tenants who can't afford rising rents - has raged for years in major cities. But it is also keenly felt in event-heavy college towns, particularly ones that also are tourist destinations or are near them, like Cambridge, next to Boston.