Witold Rybczynski crams a lot of insight into a very brief blog post on the issues of "playground cities" such as New Orleans that attract tourists and are flooded with vacation homes.
Rybczynski is looking at Charleston, South Carolina in particular, which he says is in danger of becoming a "playground city":
"The tiny historic peninsula (...) whose resident population below the Crosstown Expressway is about 20,000, is inundated with tourists (an average of about 12,000 per day), and day-visitors from mammoth cruise ships. Many of the homeowners are absentee landlords for whom the charming place is merely an occasional pied-à-terre."
Sometimes, he says, "beauty can be a curse."
FULL STORY: Playground Cities
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