OCEAN BEACH, CA. It turns out that despite all the whining about and dissing of tourists, beach residents are actually tolerant of them and even welcome them.
The OB Rag ran a poll recently on this very subject, and the results are somewhat surprising. From September 4th through the 14th (I know, it’s more than a week – sorry!) our poll asked:
Do you think the tourists that visit Ocean Beach are a positive or negative influence on the community?
We had 99 respondents – which sure makes it easy to figure percentages. (Again, we have no way of knowing if the respondents were actual beach residents or not.)
Our poll shows that over two-thirds – 70% -have a good image of tourists and feel that they are a positive influence on the community- as long as they are respectful of the beach. Less than one out of five respondents -18% – felt tourists had a negative influence.
There also was a strong recognition that tourists add to the local economy. 32% replied that they know tourists add money to local businesses. For some, this was enough -18%. Other respondents recognized tourists’ financial help, but still felt overall they were a negative influence – 14%.
The largest vote checked the box that stated: As long as they are respectful of our community and don’t litter or cause problems they are more than welcome. 36%.
11% of the respondents were more ambivalent, of no opinion, or made a joke.
Here are the results in the order asked:
* Tourists have nothing to offer and take up too many parking spaces, and drain away other resources.
4—4% of all votes
* I like having visitors. Seeing them enjoy what I have makes me feel good.
16–16% of all votes
* I don’t have any opinion on them one way or another.
1–1% of all votes
* Maybe when they get a taste of our lifestyle they’ll take some home and spread it around.
7–7% of all votes
* Tourists can be annoying, but are a vital source of revenue for our community.
18–18% of all votes
* I know that tourists add something to the local economy but the City bends over backwards to help them, more than residents are helped.
8–8% of all votes
* As long as they are respectful of our community and don’t litter or cause problems they are more than welcome.
36–36% of all votes
* Tourist add money to local businesses but can be destructive to the peace of the local area.
6–6% of all votes
* those are tourists?
3–3% of all votes
Total Votes: 99 Started: September 4, 2009 -Sept 14
{ 5 comments… read them below or add one }
Can I just say that whoever added “They should close Hodad’s and put in a Mcdonalds.” To this weeks poll, you made my day! Too funny. I have my suspicions as to who would it was. But regardless, I spit coffee all over my keyboard laughing so hard. Thanks.
well, now that the beach bathrooms are shut down, maybe we wont have to worry about as many tourists taking up our precious space on the beach anyway……
Tourists buy parsley at top dollar. Love those people.
There’s a whole dialectic to tourists – a ying and yang so to say. They add to and they subtract from our communities. And it’s a matter of sharing, too. The ultimate question, I believe, is whether the average tourist gives back to San Diego what they consume in air, water, space, time (to others), and other consumables (food, drink, services). ConVis would say ‘Of course they do – and more!’ It’s an open question.
Then, it’s also a matter of us sharing our beautiful gift of a shoreline, streets, parks and homes. In some cases, we share too much – look at the community on the west side of Mission Bay – it has been totally turned over to tourists as vacation rentals. There are hardly any real residents left. There’s no community left. Yes, that’s an extreme, but it could happen to OB.
My neighbor – who bought and rehabbed a duplex – had said he and his spouse were going to live in the front unit. Once the rehab was done, they lived there about 6 months – and left. And they turned it into a vacation rental. It’s 5 blocks from the beach.
It’s something that OB has to be careful about.
When I checked the box about tourists being important to our economy but that the city seems to care more about them than residents I had just gotten done taking down a trash bag I keep posted out front because the city took out the public trash can on my street and hauling out my overflowing recycling bins (and picking up all the spillage due to their being too full to roll to the curb) because I make an effort to put everything recyclable in the blue bin and an every-other-week collection cycle is recoculous unless you’re trying to discourage conscious trash disposal. So maybe it was just a jaded moment…