Building your local economy on a few (or one) business model is a bad thing to do

[SoCalDem]

Not that long ago, tourism was an "extra", and locals had regular jobs within their communities...family-supporting jobs. Mom may have done some table-waiting to earn extra Christmas money, but the "tourist money" was often a job for the eager young people, just starting out.

The big-box-i-fication and the cannibalism of the hotel chains, put more tourists into these small towns, but it also drove wages down. As factories left, and big box retailers put hometown businesses out of business, there was little to do BUT work for the mega-corporation tourism entities.

The glitzy "new" supplanted the comfortable family places, and prices went up (odd how that works..prices up..wages down:(..)

When I was young, newspapers were FULL of job ads for young people. I lived in Kansas, so naturally, most of these opportunities were for Colorado ski resorts or dude ranches. the deal was, dorm living for free, a small wage & tips, and skiing, riding, fishing, campling, hiking, (until the snow all melted) on your days off.. Lots of my friends did this every chance they got , and the tips & the small wage they got, set them up of the next semester at college. They considered it a working vacation.. Why was this possible? because the adults in those towns had REAL jobs, and once their own kids had gotten jobs at the resorts, the resorts advertised for out-of-towners.

I remember a trip we took to Florida, many many years ago, and every place we stopped was plopped right on the beach....small family-owned places..clean but nothing fancy..

There was one called "The Magnolia Inn (It was in Alabama, I think).. we checked in late at night, and I had a hard time sleeping because of the "noise".. In the morning, I figured out what it was.. It was the surf..about 50 yds from the patio doors on the room..

We also stayed at a place called "The Garden of Allah"..(it WAS a different time.. ) For its day, it was a very upgraded place, with 3 pools & tent-like structures..very Arabian Nights..

So many southern beach towns have now cast their lots with tourism & fishing (with the petrochem business as the mainstay for higher paying jobs)

they truly do depend on the "kindness of strangers" who visit them and pay to stay, because there will never be enough petro money to support them, and as we see now, a "oops" by the petro folks, and they have nothing to fall back on..

[BR_Parkway]

1. Absolutely spot on

[yella_dawg]

2. Historically

As all through recorded history, agriculture was the foundation of local economies. Looks like modern technology hasn't changed things so much after all.

[SoCalDem]

3. Except that so many people have never learned about agriculture and have no land anymore

:(