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> Doesn't living like a local mean using local services, spending money in local shops, attending festivals and adding to the culture? The thing is, a lot of

> Doesn't living like a local mean using local services, spending money in local shops, attending festivals and adding to the culture? The thing is, a lot of these are leaving. As the full-time residents move out of the city, the businesses that cater to them do too, and what's left is touristy things, making it harder for the few residents who do still live in an area overrun by short term rentals. I'd also argue that visitors who only stay for a week or a month do not add to the culture of a town. They're there to take advantage of it without adding anything, and it ends up destroying it as all those who actually do create the culture get pushed out. > Hanging a newcomers are not welcome here sign ignores that areas of New York start off as one group and constantly change as new waves of people come to the city. That's not what I'm arguing. I'm not arguing that newcomers aren't welcome. I'm arguing that tourists who want to live as locals harm the area by forcing prices up for the residents of the town and forcing them outwards, as well as myriad other issues (e.g. coming home at all hours of the night loudly drunk while people are trying to sleep because they have to go to work tomorrow)

ipaddr 5y ago
The people working at those tourist shops live locally and the tax money gets put into local schools. The profit back into the community. Tourist do add a lot of culture. They are happy to be there and they add people on the street. They make socializing in local bars / restaurants more exciting. I honestly can't see a negative. Your prices are going up because it's New York. New York doesn't sleep but it's not the tourists. Buffalo is a great town. At night the downtown is empty at night. The drunk homeless are usually local.
- dorchadas 5y ago
  It's not just New York. It's not just the big cities. And it's not just prices going up. I'm not anti-tourist. I'm anti-tourist thinking they deserve to live like the locals when they're not. Tourists can stay in hotels and still go out to the bars and help bring money to the city. What they shouldn't do is feel entitled to live in a house. In fact every house they live in is one less for the locals to actually live in. That's the issue. It drains supply, which does cause prices to rise exactly for those who can't afford it (who's the ones most likely going to be working in these tourist shops? Not those who can afford $1000+ rent that's for sure). And the thing is those local bars/restaurants often move out once there's no longer locals around. Tourist bars and restaurants move in, as is seen in several neighborhoods in Barcelona. Tourists feeling like they have the right to live in houses that the locals need is the issue, not tourism itself (at least for this specific one). I still disagree that tourists add much to culture. Culture of an area is more than just a transient thing caused by people being on the street. It's the festivals, customs, etc of the people of the place. Tourists don't contribute to this in my opinion (except, perhaps, in negative ways when they stumble back to their AirBnB in a residential neighborhood waking up all the people who live there and who have to go to work tomorrow and leaving the area trashed).
- soco 5y ago
  An area full of tourist shops is nothing that could be called "local". It's just the exactly identical t-shirt and trinket booths you will meet everywhere in the world, basically ruining the experience even for the tourists (at least for those who care).

ipaddr 5y ago

The people working at those tourist shops live locally and the tax money gets put into local schools. The profit back into the community. Tourist do add a lot of culture. They are happy to be there and they add people on the street. They make socializing in local bars / restaurants more exciting. I honestly can't see a negative. Your prices are going up because it's New York. New York doesn't sleep but it's not the tourists. Buffalo is a great town. At night the downtown is empty at night. The drunk homeless are usually local.

dorchadas 5y ago
It's not just New York. It's not just the big cities. And it's not just prices going up. I'm not anti-tourist. I'm anti-tourist thinking they deserve to live like the locals when they're not. Tourists can stay in hotels and still go out to the bars and help bring money to the city. What they shouldn't do is feel entitled to live in a house. In fact every house they live in is one less for the locals to actually live in. That's the issue. It drains supply, which does cause prices to rise exactly for those who can't afford it (who's the ones most likely going to be working in these tourist shops? Not those who can afford $1000+ rent that's for sure). And the thing is those local bars/restaurants often move out once there's no longer locals around. Tourist bars and restaurants move in, as is seen in several neighborhoods in Barcelona. Tourists feeling like they have the right to live in houses that the locals need is the issue, not tourism itself (at least for this specific one). I still disagree that tourists add much to culture. Culture of an area is more than just a transient thing caused by people being on the street. It's the festivals, customs, etc of the people of the place. Tourists don't contribute to this in my opinion (except, perhaps, in negative ways when they stumble back to their AirBnB in a residential neighborhood waking up all the people who live there and who have to go to work tomorrow and leaving the area trashed).
soco 5y ago
An area full of tourist shops is nothing that could be called "local". It's just the exactly identical t-shirt and trinket booths you will meet everywhere in the world, basically ruining the experience even for the tourists (at least for those who care).