Treading Water in the Ocean State

Treading Water in the Ocean State

The majesty and coastline beauty of Newport landed it in a ranking of seventh out of ten most beautiful places in the entire nation to visit in an informal poll by the ABC morning show, "Good Morning America," several days ago.

 

The recognition came on a day when many Rhode Islanders, taking advantage of a steamy mid-August holiday Monday, were most likely enjoying their nationally famous coastline, which stretches far beyond Newport, by indulging in beaching or boating.

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But the award, representing national recognition of our state’s uncontested jewel, rich in attractive natural assets, comes amidst other highly unattractive national attention directed our way in recent days.

The state’s first municipal bankruptcy rolled into federal court last week and the legal wrangling now underway over the fiscally collapsed Central Falls has triggered concerns that other Rhode Island communities may not be far behind, as pension debts mount and local community resources are depleted.

But the favorable recognition, one of numerous accolades Newport has received over the years, should serve as an encouraging reminder of the vital role tourism, especially coastline tourism, plays in our state’s economy. It should also serve as a wake-up call to the larger economic development potential it offers at a time when it’s become vividly clear that Rhode Island has a dwindling revenue base problem. A strategic tourism development plan for its other coastal asset areas must now be seriously addressed.

The history, Gilded Age wealth, and nautical brand image of Newport naturally sets it apart from not only some of the state’s other coastal communities, but from seaports the world over. But even Newport was looking less than jewel like in the 1970s when it began undertaking the kind of aggressive, comprehensively mapped out, nautical-oriented, economic development plans that capitalized on its storied “city by the sea” image which was greatly enhanced by America’s Cup races and Tall Ship visits. Those internationally known events, showcasing the world class majesty of the Rhode Island coast, produced tourism revenue which benefitted the rest of the state. (The other notable exceptions are Watch Hill and Block Island: their unspoiled characters and architecturally preserved town centers draw regional, national, and even international visitors, as well as being boating/yachting destinations, although tourist dollars are flowing in lesser quantities in more recent summers.)

But many destinations in other sections of coastal Rhode Island, though presently still popular, are starting to present aging facilities and are lagging in tourism oriented appeal at a time when the state may need it the most.

We won’t be able to compete for tourism dollars, hawking an “ocean state/summer playground” marketing theme at a vastly slowed down tourism market, while at the same time projecting the coastal version of a NIMBY mindset (“not in my backyard”) in some of our more prominent, but vastly underutilized coastal communities.

Other states have managed to strike that delicate balance between tourism development and coastline protection in waterfront or beach towns that become a destination for scenic walking and boating tours, hotels, cafés and restaurants, and shopping districts. It’s not that Rhode Island’s coastal towns beyond Newport and the Block don’t offer some version of those enticements. The problem is that in most cases—and the ocean-fronted strip of town that straddles Narragansett Pier is a prominent example—there lacks a Newport style foot-traffic friendly, cohesively laid out restaurant/lodging/shopping district that maximizes the view (the tinier shops and restaurants are hidden behind a wall of condos) and would therefore maximize the tourism revenue potential.

Every community in the state, and every homeowner, whether they are a second home owner here or own a primary residence, can expect to see higher taxes and reduced home values down the line if the state can’t—or won’t—attack its pension debt problems and launch a more coordinated and aggressive approach to economic development, and that includes enhancing its coastline tourism potential.

By most indicators, Central Falls will not be the last or the only municipality that ends up fiscally collapsing. If state taxpayers end up on the hook for the finances of Central Falls, Providence (?), West Warwick (?) and beyond—opening a new business, keeping open a business, or selling your home—will become markedly more difficult to do.

Any talk by elected officials of rejuvenating the state’s downward spiral must include a renewed and serious look at its approach to coastal tourism beyond the obvious, and internationally visited success stories, like Newport. A sustained and aggressive effort to capitalize on what is still Rhode Island’s most unique and strongest asset needs statewide leadership to work with local community leaders to create a renewed and cohesive, long term plan for greater tourism along the state’s coast that could vastly boost needed revenues.

What good is it to boast a world class coastline if we let everything around it deteriorate in coming years because of a lack of infrastructure funding?

You can’t run government functions just by being a “pretty state” with an ocean, and we can’t raise children on a nice view, and nothing else.

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Donna Perry is a Communications Consultant to RISC, www.statewidecoalition.com