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James Bentwood

Beach Fanatic
Feb 24, 2005
1,495
606
Bob: I do not have a dog in this hunt but am continually amazed at the narrow minded attitude found in this forum. The area is built on tourism and should expect the bad with the good. Any sarcasm should be vented toward those that complain against the tourists as that what makes this area’s economy.
Expecting the bad with the good is exactly why our quality of life is sinking. We should raise our expectations and maintain or raise our quality of life. We need leaders who keep expectations high. We'll never get such leaders if we ourselves allow our community to sink to the lowest common denominator.
 

jodiFL

Beach Fanatic
Jul 28, 2007
2,476
733
SOWAL,FL
Just because we get millions of tourist a year doesnt mean we have to give up everything we hold dear to appease them. There are plenty of other places they can go if they want to have what other resort areas have for them. No where on the Walton County seal does it say "Tourism are the only thing that matters"
WALCO seal.jpg
 

blindrid

Beach Lover
Aug 17, 2018
55
16
67
Santa Rosa Beach
Jodi: try 3-4 BILLION dollars income annually. They support property values, retail shops and subsidize our services. Take the numbers away and property values become soft, VRBO’s become nonexistent, etc.

I don’t believe the demographics of this area support the scooter industry anyway so everyone is getting their shorts in a wad for little reason. Relax.
 

UofL

Beach Fanatic
Jan 21, 2005
693
443
Louisville KY
Bob: I do not have a dog in this hunt but am continually amazed at the narrow minded attitude found in this forum. The area is built on tourism and should expect the bad with the good. Any sarcasm should be vented toward those that complain against the tourists as that what makes this area’s economy.
I live in a neighborhood 660 miles from the beach. There is a golf course community across from our community and two other communities on the other side. Our community has the shops, restaurants, & concerts so over time golf carts have become popular. Because of a few bad drivers/owners, a small minority want to ban them. Why is that always the answer? A few ruin it so punish everyone else? After our last concert, apparently not all trash was disposed of properly so now the 'management' is threatening to end the concerts. Again, punishing all because of a few.
Ellen
 

Will B

Moderator
Jan 5, 2006
4,530
1,279
Atlanta, GA
The single worst thing that I see regarding e-scooters...and I am immersed in them every weekend...is the fact that their business model is based on using them and leaving them wherever you wind up. I see hundreds of them every Friday and Saturday night all over sidewalks on their sides, on the steps in front of shops and restaurants, and anywhere else you can thing of. They look like discarded children toys.

Do I think that they will be a Sowal issue? No. Seasonal use does not fit their business models, and they are not about picking up their inventory and moving it to chase money. They want a steady stream of revenue so that, in my humblest of opinions, does not make 30A particularly inviting for them.

Now, with all that being said you can buy these things online and at Walmart for relatively little money so it's not beyond the realm of possibilities that they will show up, but they will be individually owned.

On a tangent, though, and before everybody goes wild on the no motorized vehicles thing I noticed that Sowal has a bigger issue than e-scooters on the path. I found at least two, maybe three, vendors who are renting electric assist bikes. These are valid businesses so Walton county knows well and good where those bikes are going to be used.

So here's your real issue. No motorized vehicles means no motorized vehicles. It doesn't mean these are OK, those are not OK, and the rest fall into a gray area. Until that gets clarified you have an unenforceable ordinance on the path. In the spirit of full disclosure, I own and ride a Onewheel (www.onewheel.com), and I do ride it on the path, but I do not ride like an ass hat, and I'm respectful of everybody on the path. The ordinance likely was written when the path was built and has not changed with the times. Back then there were only golf carts and ATV's. It's a whole new world.
 
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bob1

Beach Fanatic
Jun 26, 2010
530
523
Jodi: try 3-4 BILLION dollars income annually. They support property values, retail shops and subsidize our services. Take the numbers away and property values become soft, VRBO’s become nonexistent, etc.

I don’t believe the demographics of this area support the scooter industry anyway so everyone is getting their shorts in a wad for little reason. Relax.
Are you arguing that we should do everything we can to make tourists come here?
 

jodiFL

Beach Fanatic
Jul 28, 2007
2,476
733
SOWAL,FL
Jodi: try 3-4 BILLION dollars income annually. They support property values, retail shops and subsidize our services. Take the numbers away and property values become soft, VRBO’s become nonexistent, etc.

I don’t believe the demographics of this area support the scooter industry anyway so everyone is getting their shorts in a wad for little reason. Relax.
Relax? Yea thats why I moved here long before those millions of tourists came. I got along just fine back then (still do). Dont plan on selling or borrowing any $$ on my already paid for home. Still have most of the same great neighbors in a non-VRBO area. The business owners that I know still have their businesses from back then...if they can make it when there was very limited tourism they are doing something right and I dont worry about them.. So your argument means nothing to me. A couple of million less tourist could be a good thing..less traffic,less stress, some of those income producing VRBOs could become the affordable housing so desperately needed in this area. This area was pretty cool before a bunch of folks trying to get rich at the expense of the nature,environment.and locals came in and made it all about making the almighty tourist dollar while they sit at home ,somewhere that is not here,and wait for that cash to hit the bank. Bet if their neighbors started putting up their houses on VRBO or AirBNB they would have a fit.
 

bob1

Beach Fanatic
Jun 26, 2010
530
523
Relax? Yea thats why I moved here long before those millions of tourists came. I got along just fine back then (still do). Dont plan on selling or borrowing any $$ on my already paid for home. Still have most of the same great neighbors in a non-VRBO area. The business owners that I know still have their businesses from back then...if they can make it when there was very limited tourism they are doing something right and I dont worry about them.. So your argument means nothing to me. A couple of million less tourist could be a good thing..less traffic,less stress, some of those income producing VRBOs could become the affordable housing so desperately needed in this area. This area was pretty cool before a bunch of folks trying to get rich at the expense of the nature,environment.and locals came in and made it all about making the almighty tourist dollar while they sit at home ,somewhere that is not here,and wait for that cash to hit the bank. Bet if their neighbors started putting up their houses on VRBO or AirBNB they would have a fit.
You go girl! or You go boy!
 
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