tourists go home!!!

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Idea Maker wrote:

i'm sick and tired of south haven bending over backwards for the tourists at the expense of those of us who live in the area. too many condos, too little decent jobs.
TOURISTS GO HOME!!! you are NOT welcome in south haven. we don't need you and we don't need your tourist dollars.

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Seymore wrote:

<quoted text>
Listen, Pal. You are an asshole. My family has been coming to South Haven to enjoy your beaches and fresh air for more than 3 generations since the 1920s. Granted, it's nowhere as nice there as it used to be for your average tourist, but it is still a very nice town with a lot of good people. Except for shitheads like you who do not appreciate good people coming in with good money to spend at your merchants.
Though the North Beach is now really pretty devastated for people who want to spend some time in a nice place, it will be idiots like you who who will kill it completely for others who welcome us and appreciate what's left of the tourism trade.
So, I believe you are just one of a few isolated morons. Maybe even a Nazi.

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SH Native wrote:

Come on, Idea Maker. Tell us what you really think!:)
South Haven is exactly what it's always been - a small tourist town on Lake Michigan. Generations have been coming to SH for the same reason - the beaches and those small stores that sell those small trinkets. When people go on vacation they buy those kinds of things. And just like 40 years ago, the locals don't buy in town - they drive to Kalamazoo and St. Joe for the things they need. Now you can get a lot of those day-to-day items online. Bothing has really changed.
Sure, there have usually been small factories or other industry in town. I know they are all gone now but they are gone everywhere. And when the economy bounces they'll be back. For now, SH is counting on that tourist dollar to survive.
Locals need to be a little more tolerant and accepting. We also need to understand that it's those tourist dollars that keep the taxes from going even higher. The goal should be to encourage tourists and get as much of that money as possible.
I don't think that makes you a Nazi, IM. I know it's frustrating. Can't we all just get along?:)

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Idea Maker wrote:

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in and of itself...
there's nothing wrong with tourists.
i'll admit that.
but catering to tourists is something else. south haven is a TOURIST TRAP. just look at the retail shops. most of them sell trinkets and nicknacks (junk). we also have too many antique shops. south haven needs a good mall, such as rivertown crossings. even meijer is better than wal-mart.
there's also the expensive homes. none of us locals can afford these homes. yet the developers come and keep building them anyway.
NO MORE CONDOS!!!
and then there's the traffic of all of those cars. not to mention all of that urban sprawl. it's WAY to obvious that south haven is NOT green. plus the city cops let the tourists do whatever they feel like, while watching the locals on their way to work like a hawk. this is obviously a double standard.
south haven is CORRUPT!!!

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Water 4 the Pool wrote:

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Where to start with this. For once and for all, stop saying the Haven needs a mall. How would a town of 5,000 people with dwindling employment prospects support it? Wal Mart's business strategy people know SH better than the Haven knows itself: a small town with a relatively poor surrounding area will always choose lower prices over loyalty to local businesses. Therefore, South Haven shops at Wal Mart.
I live on the east coast, but whenever I am in the Midwest and mention to someone I am originally from South Haven, they remark fondly about our little lakeside community as a vacation destination. Tourism will be the primary driver of the local economy in the near future, complemented by property taxes on those condos.
Instead of whining, you should go buy one and rent it to the tourists.
From a sentimental perspective, of course, I miss being able to wander barefoot onto the deck of the Pelicans to have a drink after a day at the beach. I'm as disappointed as anyone that Three Pelicans and the Pancake House shuttered, but--good or bad--those are business decisions made by the owners. Sentimental value almost always takes a back seat to dollars and cents. If there is enough demand for another restaurant, someone will open one. That's Economics 101.
Right now, South Haven needs to capitalize upon its resort-town persona as a bedroom community for professionals who live in nearby cities, such as Kalamazoo and Grand Rapids. With I-196 (and even M-43 with its white-knuckled driving), people are willing to commute further distances. That will increase the tax base, lead to better schools, and make South Haven more attractive to similar families.
Frankly, it's an uphill battle. It would be great to see small industry come to South Haven to provide decently-paying jobs, but I just don't think that's a reality in the immediate future.

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SH Native wrote:

I understand your frustration - really I do. But I can't help wondering why you could possibly want tax-supporting businesses that are struggling with today's economy and which employ locals to fail? As if things aren't bad enough - do you want even more people on the unemployment lists? Do you want less business taxes coming in to help support SH? Do you want your property taxes to increase?
There is plenty of room in town for new stores. There are empty rentals. If there is a need for typical year around stores then show what you're made of and open one up! Find the need and jump on it.
It takes a lot of courage to open a new business right now but there is also a lot of federal and state money out there to help stimulate new businesses.
I hear a lot of complaining (not just from you - I'm really not trying to pick on you) but very little initiative. If things are that bad and you (the collective you, not just you, Idea Maker) think there is a need, get out there and support your community. If you're right you'll soon be rolling in $!
What ideas do you have for new businesses in town? What is SH so desperately in need of that you could make a good show of a new business?
How about a new shoe store. SH hasn't had a legitimate shoe store in town since McKimmy's (hope I spelled that right - I'm showing my age if you don't remember the family-run store near where Clem's is now) closed. But truthfully, could a shoe store make it these days in SH?
I'm suggesting that if you (again, collective you) think there is a need then get off your butts and get something going. That doesn't mean you have to wish ill for the store owners who did get off their butts and make their dreams come true. It seems mean to me to wish them to fail especially when they are working so hard to survive.
What are you contributing?

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Idea Maker wrote:

hardly anything in south haven for us locals.

local for 30 years wrote:

what is wrong with you idea maker? Have you even bothered to visit any of the shops downtown? There are few trinkets to be found, but you sound to me like someone who wants a gun / tobacco shop for your year-round pleasure. Anyone who wishes business failures has his own problems to deal with. South Haven is now and has always been a tourist town. Do you think the people who would come to your "mall" would be any more pleasant? Would they all be just like you? Get out this summer and meet some different people, do some fun things --you sound bitter. No solutions--just a lot of BS talk.