It's good to know people are still reading this blog ..

The latest evidence of such comes from the most recent editorial in the Republican Newspaper. I'm guessing this is in part a response to my previous posting on Garrett County tourism and me questioning whether tourism was a good for the people of Garrett County as so many people claim. If not, I still feel a few points should be made since as it is this is a very misleading editorial. The editor makes an ok case but while Mykonos is indeed a very popular place visit and one that may seem like home to him, he fails to remember that all things are relative and in doing so has deceived the reader. He describes how Mykonos relies heavily on tourism and mentions that Mykonos and its 5,000 residents would be in "economic trouble" if not for the 900,000 tourists who visit annually. Given that there are approximately 30,000 citizens of Garrett County some 5.4 million tourists would have to visit Garrett County every year (over 100,000 per week) to provide the economic impact to put the two locales on the same level (assuming of course some of that economic impact didn't filter out into PA and WV since as you know Garrett County is not on an island and that the Garrett County tourists were as well off at those in Mykonos). Personally, I'm hoping Garrett County does not deteriorate to that level. Mykonos is an amazing place but they can keep their 900,000 tourists, Garrett County has other economic development options and shouldn't need tourists numbering in the millions.

Or maybe the editor was offering to let them all stay at his house while he is out of the country (on a trip thousands of Garrett County residents currently stuck in low wage retail and leisure and hospitality jobs could never afford)? A place with more than 3 tourists for every resident might sound like an ok place to visit if you could ever get away from all the tourists but not a place I would choose to live and I suspect many residents of Garrett County would agree with me. Just imagine the traffic on 219! Let me help you, imagine in your head the combined traffic from the 4th of July fireworks, Memorial Day weekend, Labor Day weekend and the Garrett County Fair and then remember that this nightmare would pale in comparison to 100,000 people overrunning the county, week after week after week. Imagine the impending flood of desperate workers and street vendors (many perhaps undocumented workers) who would pour into the area looking to make a couple bucks from the tourist trade. So much for small towns and family values, instead think Las Vegas and Atlantic City. Where else could you house so many tourists? I guess this goes to show the vision the editor and others have for Garrett County which can be summed up in a few simple words: tourism before all else!

Don't forget to check back to Dan's Deep Creek Blog for future updates.