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Surcharge for Portsmouth Tourists Debated
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August 2012  
Dear SeacoastNH.com

Tourism has a price! Anyone that lives and works here knows this. The locals have seen their neighbors having to move because of rising costs. Our parking fees increase, locals pick their times to come downtown, we have less open space, less local people are in politics to make decisions on our way of life and future, not knowing the history . (See more of this letter and our response below)

 

Tourists cost money for services , such as roads, parking garages, cleaning up our city, ambulances, & police to name a few.  More and more tourist related  & Less and less local businesses downtown Portsmouth exist such as a drug store, food store, or laundry .  We have to drive out of town to get what we really need.  I believe tourists should pay more.

We need tourists and we expect them to pay a premium.  Locals should pay less at home and as we pay more when we travel.

Tourists drive our economy and they expect to pay for it , they are on vacation or visiting us, it only makes sense they pay extra.  We should put that in the equation for local parking fees and everything else. Portsmouth citizens should pay less for parking and it's services, tourists more.  That is an even trade.

Richard Smith, 93 High Street, Portsmouth, NH

SeacoastNH.com Responds

We who live outside the bustling city center feel your pain. How about a special dispensation for those locals crazy enough to live smack downtown in the hotel and restaurant neighborhood? But perhaps, just perhaps, we’re already getting our money’s worth. Portsmouth is unique in that we have much more cultural resources than our 20,000 residents can support. History proves definitively that it was the tourists, not local citizens, who preserved and paid for most of our house museums that give the city its character. (see my book on Strawbery Banke). Since the city first began advertising for visitors to come and spend money here (that was before the Civil War) locals have had a love-hate relationship with out of towners. Yet truth be told, most of us actually are from out of town. We came, we fell in love, and we stayed. And what did we fall in love with? The culture, and history, the houses, the quaint design of the city streets, the river, and our quirky, talented, brilliant neighbors – most of whom were also from somewhere else. No tourists -- no big name concerts, no Prescott Park, no downtown restaurants, no art galleries, no festivals, no historic houses, no repaired roads and wide sidewalks and filled store windows. Maybe we're already getting our money's worth from the tourists. We also benefit from what we provide for them, four seasons per year. Attaching a surcharge to the people who are keeping our economy alive and our housing values up when the rest of the nation is tanking? Not so clever in my book. Maybe we should count our blessings and welcome those “come-from- aways” with open hearts and open wallets. But how to upcharge those who want to explore our beautiful heritage destination? I humbly suggest that equal rights for the visitors who make our economy hum isn’t a bad trade-off for the lifestyle we enjoy yearround. My T-shirt reads “Yes, I’m from here, and yes, I’m happy to give directions.” While always willing to pay less (as with EasyPass or dump permits), I'm also thankful to be living in this lively town -- brought to you, in part, by the people with out-of-state license plates.