I find it hard to believe that anybody who lives in Belmar enjoys having 50,000 people jam into our square mile town on summer weekends even if the visitors are “middle class families” (which, of course, we all know they are mostly not.) Actually I’m not sure it’s even proper for the Mayor to be so specific about what kinds of people he wants visiting.
But I, like the Mayor I guess, I would prefer that poor families not come to our town. And I, like the Mayor I guess, would also prefer that rich families not come to our town. On top of that, I would prefer that single people go to the beach somewhere else. Unlike the Mayor though, I don’t want middle class families coming here either despite the fact that they are obviously so wonderful.
I don’t need to catalog all the problems that the hordes of visitors bring with them. You’re all quite familiar, unfortunately. For me it’s the traffic and the fact that the beach gets so overcrowded that I don’t even want to go there anymore. For many of you the problems are much, much worse.
The only people that profit from the summer onslaught are the business owners and many of them don’t even live in Belmar. The amount of tax they pay here has nothing to do with how profitable they are. So why would it be our job to bring them customers? What’s in it for us?
If they want to be here that’s fine…we should not stand in their way…but they have to get their own customers.
And despite all the mayor’s talk about the jobs they bring, the businesses here hire people from all over, not just Belmar (unless you’re a certain business that apparently likes to hire people that can vote in Belmar.) It’s not like Belmar has an income tax and can tax people who work in Belmar. People who live in Belmar can work anywhere, makes no difference to us.
I don’t say we should discourage tourism or be hostile to visitors in any way. The town is beautiful and of course people are going to want to come. Let them come. But why are we spending tens of thousands of dollars promoting our town, only to have to live with the weight of having 50,000 people packed into one square mile?
Tell me if I’m wrong:
17 Comments
the only problem I have with what you had to say, or your expressing your opinion is the fact that I doubt the photograph you used is one taken of the Belmar Beach.
Of course it isn’t. But if certain people had their way….
The plus is it is a job creator, The minus there is no benefit to the residents of Belmar,I see more and undesirable looking people around. Seaside Heights is addressing that problem. Matt just creates problems.
Spark promotes Belmar’s”Farmers” Market…Yesterday was first Saturday of the season…It was more like a circus!
Loud music coming out of two huge amps, yoga class next to it. …Yoga supposed to be meditative…silence was NOT golden. Then two rows of vendors hawking their wares..What does this have to do with promoting NJ Farm Fresh? This event is catered to bring “middle class” families. Some are single people in their 20’s who spill over to Rite Aid with their open sippies playing dodgeball in the aisles! Go to Trenton Farmer’s Market to see how a “true” Farmer’s Market operates compared to Belmar.
I’ve lived here for over 20 years. When I moved here I knew that our population would go up in the summer, and was ok with that. However I did not plan on our council advertising to bring more tourists to the town. In the past couple years the beaches have gotten more and more crowded on the weekends, it’s terrible, and we know this is from our administration advertising. I mean who doesn’t remember seafood festival weekend from a few years ago (the last time it was in June) when our town was a bottleneck. And I still don’t ever remember hearing the Mayor saying it was due to all the advertising they did which we know that was definitely why (he thinks it’s from the nice weather as if that was the first time in my 20 years here it was beautiful weather, give me a break). And I’m still mad they moved it from June to May. People wake up!! This mayor and administration are for the tourists not the residents , wake up and start voting to change this administration , please!!
Farmers market is successful in normal towns not a tourist town. The kids are not customers nor are the summer adults who eat out mostly they do not cook. Jersey fresh corn tomatoes etc. are not even ripe yet.
http://www.93x.com/2017/05/24/drunk-girl-having-orgasm-while-eating-pizza/
Belmar’s mayor loves to make class distinctions, how upper upper of him.
#7 – They would usually say “That’s somebody’s daughter”, but those pigs are somebody’s sons! More displays of class at that great establishment, D’Jais.
Basement videos banned.
Not all business owners profit from tourism. Every Monday I am picking up after the slobs that leave used condoms , used diapers , beverage bottles etc. in my parking lot. I get no benefit from tourism and I am sure I am not alone.
I should also mention that all businesses have to contribute to the Tourism Commission even though it’s only the hospitality related businesses that benefit.
Is the Tourism Commission tax the same as the Belmar Improvement District (SID) tax on all the businesses (who are disgusted).
Tourism is a fee charged to every business. I think it’s $125 a year but I may be wrong. The SID is an assessment on every commercial property owner. Completely different. Business owners who own their buildings pay both.
Tax, taxed and by the tackless.
Belmar has always been the place to attract very different groups of people something you often dont see in many towns. If Belmar wants to manage the influx of tourism better it should do such. But I am not sure the income it brings into the town and the need for it to keep taxes low. There should be hirer taxes on consumer goods like plastic bottles or other cheap crap so less of it ends up in the beach or worse in your stomach when it breaks down to small pieces. Here are some examples- food for thought on how other places deal with tourism. http://www.cnn.com/2016/02/24/travel/china-tibet-tourism/ , In Tibet they focused on the benefits of Tourism on society rather then the amount of money to be made. https://www.nature.org/greenliving/what-is-ecotourism.xml , replace bar hoping types with scubu diving more, fishing or tree planting. Try to stay away from that class issue things seems like a lose lose. https://www.nature.org/greenliving/what-is-ecotourism.xml
http://www.environmentalhealthnews.org/ehs/news/dangers-of-plastic
California dreamin’ with enough smog to kill a houses.
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