Colour_me_triggered

What's the best (non-criminal) way to completely destroy the tourism sector in my home town.

https://lemm.ee/post/5054820

What's the best (non-criminal) way to completely destroy the tourism sector in my home town. - lemm.ee

I live in a small town which is disproportionately popular with tourists. Because of this, people are hoarding property to rent out on Airbnb. I want to buy a house but will never be able to afford it unless the market is flooded with properties. Again I’m not looking for anything illegal just some propaganda tricks to keep the tourists away for a year or two.

Aug 22, 2023 at 11:53amWeb
Show threadNOT_RICKAug 22, 2023
I feel like this isn’t an easy answer without knowing why tourists are showing up
Show threadColour_me_triggeredAug 22, 2023
Northern lights/ midnight sun. The Germans also show up to empty the sea of fish.
Show threadnurpleAug 22, 2023
Block out the sun, Mr. Burns style.
Show threadColour_me_triggeredAug 22, 2023
The sun is already blocked for two months of the year. It’s why people come here.
Show threadBOMBSAug 22, 2023
light pollution. get a bunch of spot lights. if that’s too expensive, encourage your town to build a few baseball diamonds that operate at night.
Show threadColour_me_triggeredAug 22, 2023
Organised tours will take people up to 4 hours outside the town. They do already.
Show threadmedAug 22, 2023
I mean, maybe test the water supply? Odds are there’s something very wrong with it these days
Show threadSnazzyAug 22, 2023
😂 I’m imagining op going through with this. Op if you do let us know how it goes.
Show threadColour_me_triggeredAug 22, 2023
Regrettably the water gets tested regularly and it’s pristine.
Show threadNOT_RICKAug 22, 2023

Regrettably my town’s Drinking water supply is pristine

My sides

Show threadBlazeAug 22, 2023
What’s so funny? I missed the joke
Show threadwahmingAug 22, 2023
Not a complaint you usually hear
Show threadBlazeAug 22, 2023
Thanks
Show threadincendiaryperihelionAug 22, 2023
very sad, sorry op
Show threadRemy RoseAug 22, 2023

Might be a bit of a stretch, but start a paper mill company! They make a whole town smell REALLY REALLY BAD. During my childhood there was one in Downingtown, Pennsylvania, and it was not a tourist destination at all. Then the paper mill closed and suddenly it WAS a tourist destination.

Also, does Lemmy have an Unethical Pro Life Tips community yet? This question would be perfect there. Also also, don’t rule out criminality so quick!

Show threadacastcandreamAug 22, 2023

“I can’t afford a house.”

“Buy a commercial property and build out a paper mill.”

Show threadHyperi0nAug 22, 2023
Doesn’t work. Live in a paper mill town and we get tourists like crazy and my house has tripled in value in the last 5 years.
Show threadplanishAug 22, 2023

What’s your budget for this project? If you can out-spend the tourism board you can convince everyone your town is bad/the next town over is better.

You could also try making the town unpleasant by, say, opening a coal fired power plant or putting up hundreds of billboards for erectile dysfunction medications. But presumably you also want to live there?

Show threadYMSAug 22, 2023
If there would be the kind of budget you're talking about, they'd just buy a house, or rather three (one to live in, two to rent out, to re-finance the other one) and that whole question would be obsolete.
Show threadacastcandreamAug 22, 2023

“Because I can’t buy a house I want to attack my community’s economy” is a pretty terrible sell. Especially when that would not suddenly solve your housing issues.

This is a small town. Not a major city where out of town firms are buying up whole blocks, i take it. This would not generate the desired results.

Show threadNeatoAug 22, 2023
People ARE entitled to home ownership. Ffs. Property hoarders can get fucked.
Show threadacastcandreamAug 22, 2023

  • no we are not. In fact many believe private property is theft.

  • that’s not really what I want to argue about anyway. I’m talking about his intentions and having to live in a community he apparently wants to buy a home in. Do you seriously think they’re going to let him fuck with all of their property values, buy one, and live there without any issues?

    • What he wants is revenge. He isn’t trying to address the core problem of short term rental ownership. He is trying to attack his community’s tourist market. That’s so ass backwards lol

    Show threadLandrin201Aug 22, 2023

    My dude you clearly don’t understand even a little bit of what leftists me an when we say that private property shouldn’t be allowed.

    Heres a hint: we aren’t talking about your house and the stuff in it. Go read a book.

    Show threadacastcandreamAug 22, 2023
    I do understand what it means, I was being tongue-in-cheek because I have no desire to actually get bogged down in whether or not this dude is entitled to own a home exactly where he wants it. I would’ve been better off just leaving it out.
    Show threadHobbitFoot Aug 22, 2023
    Yeah, but there are a lot of places around the world with cheap housing that is cheap for a reason. Does it matter that you’ve made housing cheaper even though no one can afford it because the local economy collapsed?
    Show threadacastcandreamAug 22, 2023

    Exactly. OP feels entitled to a house where he wants and he is willing to attack his own community in order to achieve it. It would be a completely different discussion if he was willing to tackle the actual problem, which is the proliferation of short term rentals.

    It’s not even like what I’m saying above is outlandish. The dude is literally asking how to destroy the local tourism industry/economy. So clearly big ideas are not off the table. 

    Show threadHobbitFoot Aug 22, 2023

    I can even refer to a Norwegian play An Enemy of the People to describe what will probably happen to OP if they go about what they are planning.

    A doctor of a spa in a small town discovers a local factory is polluting the local spa, causing tourists to get sick. One by one, the local townsfolk turn on the doctor as they realize that closing either the spa or factory will kill the local economy. In the end, the doctor is left alone to do the right thing and is ostracized by his community.

    Show threadfliphtAug 22, 2023

    I think it's safe to assume that OP is venting frustration.

    But you know what? If you used this kind of energy to attack the monied interstate that are bleeding is all dry, instead of the frustrated not to no normal person who doesn't want to keep paying someone else's inflated mortgage, maybe things would get better.

    Show threadacastcandreamAug 22, 2023

    I actually was involved in the fresh round of restrictions that went in to place in my city over short term rentals. They created a lottery system that allows only one house per block to be a short term rental. It was previously a free-for-all.

    Is that enough energy for you?

    Show threadColour_me_triggeredAug 22, 2023

    It’s a town of fewer than 100k inhabitants that entertains around 1M tourists a year. The money mostly ends up in the pockets of a few business owners and hotel chains. The people actually working for those people also can’t afford to buy houses. It’s not benefiting the locals one bit unless they inherit a run down house from a dead relative.

    Students are getting accepted to university and quitting after a couple of months because living in gym halls and temporary buildings isn’t conducive to studying.

    Well paid professionals are sleeping on colleagues’ couches because they can’t find accommodation by the time their contract starts.

    As for pressuring the local government, they are very good friends with the local tourism mafia.

    Do you get the picture?

    Show threadacastcandreamAug 22, 2023

    I understand you’re frustrated, and I understand I came at you pretty heatedly, but level with me here. Do you seriously think that it is realistic to single-handedly shut down your tourism economy, and even if you managed it, do you really think you would achieve the desired result?

    As somebody pointed out, you are probably venting. That’s fine, I get it. But if you’re actually looking for solutions, the problem is obvious even if the solution takes a lot of work. It’s the short term rental policies in your city. 

    Show threadColour_me_triggeredAug 22, 2023
    The policies changing isn’t a possibility. Because a lot of people who bought property here more than 20 years ago (for very little) can now use that as collateral. The town is full of old people with 2 or 3 spare houses that are empty 6 months of the year. Putting in restrictions would result in loosing elections. The only way to positively change the situation is to destroy the city’s reputation, and desirability as a tourist destination. I’m asking for legal suggestions so I don’t need to vandalise large hotels during tourist season and get arrested.
    Show threadacastcandreamAug 22, 2023
    I just want to make sure I understand you. You think that changing short term rental policies in your town is unreasonable, but crashing the tourism economy isn’t and is advisable. Am I correct?
    Show threadjoeAug 22, 2023

    Run for mayor (or local equivalent), win, and then push for/implement a bunch of rules that make the town inhospitable to tourists.

    I assume the tourism brings in money to the local community, yeah? Cutting off that income will probably mean you won’t be able to win the next subsequent election, so act fast.

    Show threadgivesomefucksAug 22, 2023

    Yeah, it sucks if housing prices are catching up and you don’t own a house.

    But in a small town there’s probably pretty high levels of home ownership so most voters are probably happy their prices have gone up. And it’s probably helping the entire local economy.

    But small towns also have cheap land pretty close and local builders who don’t charge crazy prices. So instead of buying a house in town, you may have to build 5-10 minutes away.

    But who knows what OP means by small town. Depending on where you are in the country “small town” can mean drastically different things.

    Show threadjoeAug 22, 2023

    A quick scan of the OP’s history suggests that they live in Norway, but I don’t know if that tells us anything about what a “small town” is. Nor do we know why the town is popular. It’s at least plausible that tourists stay in that small town because there are so many places to stay, and it’s close to some area that is the real reason the tourists are there. (like a mountain to ski on, or something).

    I doubt the OP expects a real answer, because they didn’t provide enough information.

    Show threadgivesomefucksAug 22, 2023

    Yeah, from OPs comment history it just seems like some troll.

    They’re not actually asking for help, and they’re probably not in any position to buy a house.

    They spend a lot of time complaining about one of the most citizen friendly governments in the world. It might just be a rightwinger from another country shitting on socialism because Norway is one of the go to examples of it working

    Show threadjoeAug 22, 2023
    Considering some of their comments, doesn’t seem likely to be right wing. Most of their complaints are anti-capitalism in nature. The rest of your reply is certainly plausible.
    Show threadgivesomefucksAug 22, 2023

    Because when Americans complain about capitalism, rightwingers want to pretend the only options are China or the USSR from decades ago…

    They don’t like talking about Nordic socialism, because that’s the system that works and people like.

    So for as long as I’ve been on the internet, there’s been a big push to make those countries seem terrible.

    Which include saying they’re just as bad as capitalist countries. Hell, OP even complains about the government giving aid to people that need it for stuff like housing. Which in this case would be people like OP.

    Maybe they’re just an idiot and don’t understand they’re against the thing that would solve their problems? Maybe they’re actually rich and their real issue is they don’t get the benefits but believe people getting the benefits mean rent is higher for them and that’s why they’re against it?

    I dunno, OP isn’t making any comments to explain what the fuck their talking about.

    Show threadjoeAug 22, 2023
    I’m pretty sure that Norway is capitalistic, just like America. The difference is mostly a matter of degree, not category. I definitely could be mistaken, though.
    Show threadgivesomefucksAug 22, 2023

    en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nordic_model

    It’s more socialist than what any American politician like Bernie or AOC is asking for…

    Nordic model - Wikipedia

    Show threadColour_me_triggeredAug 22, 2023
    Yeah the overwhelming impression foreigners have is that Norway is a socialist paradise, but in actual fact the only good policies here are paid holiday and (almost) free healthcare. Wages are relatively high but so is cost of living. The housing market is largely unregulated and the market is full of monopolies and grifters. Small businesses are crushed in their infancy and the government is trying to sell off as much of the vital infrastructure as possible to private companies. No low income housing is ever built, and the government decides to subsidise things rather than regulate them.
    Show threadwahmingAug 22, 2023
    Buddy, you don’t know how good you have it. Hang out with some foreigners sometime and listen to our horror stories about our home countries
    Show threaddot20Aug 22, 2023
    The word you’re looking for is ‘social democracy’, which is a broadly capitalist system with socialist elements.
    Show threadjoeAug 22, 2023

    One of us doesn’t know what socialism is, and I want to be very clear here that it might be me.

    I am under the impression that socialism is about the government owning industry, not having a robust social safety net. Though, from that link you provided, Norway happens to be an exception in the Nordic model, and actualy does own some industries. So I guess we’re both right? haha

    Show threadColour_me_triggeredAug 22, 2023
    Norway isn’t socialist
    Show threadNewNewAccountAug 22, 2023

    It is a social democracy. Market-based with some socialialist institutions and programs.

    It is more left-leaning than the US, for comparison’s sake.

    Show threadHausAug 22, 2023
    The first/only small town in Norway with crazy tourism that comes to mind is Tromsø. If that's the one, I don't imagine it will ever change.
    Show threadjoeAug 22, 2023
    At the risk of making the OP’s problem worse: www.visittromso.no for the curious.
    Visit Tromso

    Visit Tromso is the official tourist information site for all your northern lights and midnight sun tours and Tromso regional information.

    Visit Tromso
    Show threadSchlemmyAug 22, 2023
    They’ve got bears and Northern lights! I’m looking for some property right away!
    Show threadColour_me_triggeredAug 22, 2023
    All the bears are stuffed. Carry on to Longyearbyen or drive inland to kilpisjærvi.
    Show threadBOMBSAug 22, 2023
    but I’ve never seen the northern lights! let me know if you want to meet up while I’m there 👌
    Show threadBOMBSAug 22, 2023
    booked my flight and AirBnB! thank you 😊
    Show threadColour_me_triggeredAug 22, 2023
    Fucking stop! DELET THIS!
    Show threadjoeAug 22, 2023
    Is this really where you are talking about?
    Show threadNewNewAccountAug 22, 2023
    Someone contact the Tromso authorities.
    Show threadwahmingAug 22, 2023
    Plot twist: OP works for the tourism dept
    Show threadmyrrhAug 22, 2023
    This is the kind of thing more appropriate for an UnethicalLifeProTips community lol.
    Show threadCarighan MaconarAug 22, 2023

    From my experience, small town in Norway can easily scale down to 15-20 houses, so yeah, difficult to say.

    For example a few years ago my GF and her partner went to the grandparents in Veidnes, and wow that’s a whole new level of a couple houses in the middle of freaking nowhere…

    Show threadwahmingAug 22, 2023

    what a “small town” is

    Pretty much everything besides Oslo