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Show THE OGDEN VALLEY NEWS Volume V, Issue V Page 5 December 15, 2001 Recreation Communities Compiled by Shanna Francis Ogden Valley News Staff Many communities rely on extractive activities for their economic support— extractive activities such as mining, timber, and agriculture, all of which utilize natural resources. Another industry that can rely on natural resources, but is nonextractive, is tourism and recreation. Visitors purchase goods and services, injecting income into the local economy. Often these visitors come because of natural resources—mountains, snow, desert landscapes, water, etc. As import as extractive business and tourism is to the American economy, there are other important facts to consider. As Ogden Valley teeters on the edge of becoming a major recreation and resort area, residents would be wise to consider lessons that have been learned from other communities that have tread a similar path. The tourism industry can bring benefits to a community such as accessible jobs for minimally skilled workers, and part time jobs for those who are pursuing other interests such as raising a family, running a farm, or working in the schools during the winter months. They also provide flexible job positions and hours for high school and university students. The tourism industry also brings dollars in to the local community, stimulating the economy as these dollars are circulated, and tax revenue is generated. On the other hand, tourism and recreational jobs tend to be low paying and dead-ended. According to the U.S. Travel Data Center, the average tourism industry salary is $12,800 a year. The development of tourism and recreational areas can also result in an increase in the number of vacation homes, which tends to increase property values and the cost of living. These rising property values often drive out existing residents. This trend can be seen in the Jackson, Wyoming area. The rising demand for property in the area, coupled with low paying jobs led average real income per job to decline by 30 percent. A report commissioned by the Jackson Main Street Association read, “The price paid by the average worker to live in paradise was to see the purchasing power of the earned dollar almost halved in ten years.” Most of the work force moved out of Jackson across Teton Pass and into small towns on the Idaho side of the border. Park City has seen the same phenomenon occur. Tourism can also bring in a flood of temporary visitors whose “holiday mood” and disregard for the local community at times, can disrupt and permanently alter the social landscape. In the book “Lost Landscapes and Failed Economies” by Thomas Michael Power we read, “Communities pursuing tourism are effectively inviting hordes of strangers to share their streets, public facilities, and commercial business. The net result is a major increase in the number of transients residing in the community at any given time, people who may care little about its history, culture, and values . . . Rather than permanent new residents, it brings temporary visitors into the community, and this can have a corrosive effect that is not characteristic of all economic development. Tourism also puts a lot of wear and tear on the natural landscapes. Tourism usually isn’t environmentally benign. “Herds of tourists can degrade the very landscape or culture to which they are drawn. When resort towns take off, surrounding open space tends to get swallowed up by condominium developments, “trophy” homes, golf courses, shopping malls, and trailer parks. All of these come at a cost to the natural and cultural environments. Wildlife habitat is fragmented . . . The landscape that once drew people to the area gets loved to death.” Mr. Power concludes, “If a community adopts a helpless beggars-can’t-bechoosers attitude, and passively accepts any and all tourist proposals, tourism may well someday consume it. But if the community cherishes its amenities and has the confidence to protect them, it can Happy Holidays Ken Turner 940-9000 Thank you for your business in 2001. Wishing you a Happy and safe New Year. Please visit my website: www.kenturner.org wisebird of eden books & gifts Now Open - Come In and See Our Selection Christmas Special Open 11:30 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday - Friday Saturday 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Closed Sunday 15% off all Christmas items and books. December 15 - 24, 2001 with this coupon. 2595 Hwy. 162 #4 Eden, Utah Tel: 745-1818 Eats of Eden shopping mall Complete bookstore including non-fiction, fiction, childrens, LDS, health and others. Special orders are a priority with us. Gifts of all kinds available. Give the gift of knowledge to your family, friends and yourself. lay the foundation for local entrepreneurs to develop compatible, dispersed tourist business that helps vitalize the local economy.” Do communities have other choices that have appeal? Many of my newest and friendliest neighbors are retirees who have selected this beautiful valley to spend the rest of their lives in. What a compliment to the community! Though many community decision-makers welcome the tax base generated by intense development, there are other factors to consider. The same assets in the community that bring the tourist dollar to town, also bring these retirees that collect in communities that offer natural beauty, peace, and that “down home” or rural atmosphere. Low crime rates are also a consideration. Many that come to settle, come to escape the fast pace of other cities and urban centers. County leaders and investors interested in the revenue brought to a community by tourists, tend to overlook sources of local income that are generated by retirees that decide to settle in their community. Retirement income circulates within the local community with very little of it being exported. “Such ‘footloose’ income sources can be considerable—as much as 30 to 60 percent of a local area’s personal income may be associated with factors like retirement income, investment earnings (dividends, rent, and interest), and government income-support payments. Whatever attracts or holds income of this sort is a major part of the local economic base . . . Immigrating retirees do not place disproportionate, expensive demands on local services— they tend not to use schools and do not take up space in prisons . . . When rural counties float on a cushion of social security, pensions, annuities, and asset income, local economic conditions improve . . . Several studies have shown that nonemployment income flow has at least as large an impact on the local economy as traditional economic-based activity.” So what can County leaders do to ensure that retirees remain attracted to an area? Edward T. McMahon in an article entitled “Preserving the Soul of a Place” writes, “There is an important but often ignored relationship between tourism and the environment. Unfortunately, many tourism officials are more concerned with marketing and promotions than they are with protecting and enhancing the product they are selling. “Tourism involves more than marketing. It also involves making destinations more appealing. This means conserving and enhancing a destination’s natural assets. It is, after all, the unique heritage, culture, wildlife, or natural beauty of a community or region that attracts sightseers [and retirees] in the first place. The more a community does to conserve its unique resources, whether natural or manmade, the more tourists it will attract. On the other hand, the more a community comes to resemble ‘Anyplace, U.S.A.’the less reason there will be to visit. “This is why local planning, zoning, and urban design standards are so important to communities with tourism resources. When shopping centers and housing developments come in, do they complement the resource or compromise it? “Too many cars, boats, tour buses, condominiums, or people can overwhelm a community and harm fragile resources . . . Tourists crave integrity of place wherever they go . . . “An enlightened community recognizes that the way it looks affects its image and its economic well-being. Protecting scenic views and vistas, planting trees, landscaping parking lots, and controlling signs are all fundamentally important to a city’s economic health . . . Unless the tourism industry thinks it can continue to sell trips to communities clogged with . . . polluted streams, traffic jams, and cluttered commercial strips, it ought to join in an effort to protect the natural, cultural, and scenic resources on which it relies.” |