Locals Annoyed by Hollywood Sign Tourists

[sheeplady]

Sorry, but I'm with the residents in this beef. The back of the sign (there's nothing to see :eusa_doh has blown up (at least a tenfold increase) into a huge tourist attraction in recent years, due in large part to GPS and the Internet. While the location has been on the tourist maps for decades it is actually quite difficult to find if you're unfamiliar with the area, even with a map. Were I a resident of over five years I would be seriously pissed off.

I can understand if people are upset because they are walking all over their land, parking in their driveways, and spoiling their days and nights constantly, however, they moved into a property knowing they were next to a landmark. I really can't feel sorry for someone who says that their neighbors downhill used to be the only ones who had to deal with it, but now they're upset tourists are in *their* neighborhood. (How dare those tourists stop harassing people downhill and come up to harass us.)

Almost everyone has had to deal with the fact that if they don't own a property, they can't do anything about it's use. Even if they own it, sometimes they can't do anything. Personally, I've seen tourist attractions, landfills, mining operations, and maximum/ medium security prisons built in "people's backyards" after they had lived there for many years. Give me the tourists *anyday* over the trucks, mess, and barbed wire.

 

[Philip Adams]

One thing that was mentioned when I heard this on the radio was that these people will be taking advantage of the fact they're positioned close to the sign when they're selling their property. That is to say, they'll make a feature of it when advertising their places because they know people will want to live close to sign.

So they can't have it both ways.

 

[ButteMT61]

One thing that was mentioned when I heard this on the radio was that these people will be taking advantage of the fact they're positioned close to the sign when they're selling their property. That is to say, they'll make a feature of it when advertising their places because they know people will want to live close to sign.

So they can't have it both ways.

Of course. And the bragging rights of living by it. I met a woman from Australia In Normandy this week who loved Normandy because Paris was "so noisy". We laughed because my wife and I opened our apartment windows all night - even in rain to hear the sounds of the city. Dunno, there's plenty of places to remove one's self from humans and noise. Buying/renting next to a landmark ain't the way to do that. I live next to the Rose Bowl. I love it for the activities. When a concert like U2 happens, it's a done deal we hear it for free. We hear football games, concerts, 4th of July fireworks, etc. It's part of the joy. For us anyways...

 

[rue]

You lived in Pebble Beach? Well, howdy (former) neighbor. I'm in the tourist beach town about 40-miles north. Did you ever come up that way? Our tourist population swells in the summer to a million people. I used to love the tourists. Then I just liked them. Then I sort of tolerated them. But that's three solid months of tourists. I'd be happy to have them for short spurts like the ProAm and Concourse - kind of like guests you're happy to see once a year because they don't wear out their welcome.

Well howdy! I know exactly where you are and yes, I've been there

 

[Tomasso]

they moved into a property knowing they were next to a landmark. .

You haven't a clue to what you are talking about.

 

[Connery]

The is very heated, this sign is for those who wish to view the sign from a helicopter.

 

[Tatum]

Having lived in a ski resort town and now a winter destination, I can say that yes, tourists can be annoying. But they bring in their dollars, and that keeps things going.

I can totally understand that the Hollywood residents may be getting a bit miffed, but really. What did they expect when they bought right near the sign? They CHOSE to buy property there. That sign has been there a long time. I know that they are blaming GPS for the accessibilty but Mapquest has been around for a long, long time now.

I wonder what their properties are valued at. I'm sure that the homeowner's association could afford to have their community gated. Or heck, go farther...find a tear down that is slated for demo and make it a parking lot. Charge fees.

Watching that just reinforced that I never really have any desire to visit California. I don't yell at the tourists driving around my historic neighborhood that don't live here and park in the middle of the road because they want to see the pretty house that the famous so-and-so family lived in. They are guests here. And as a member of our neighborhood association and an officer on the board, I am happy to direct them to see this or that house and answer their questions.

ETA: Connery, wow. They really are hostile, aren't they! Good grief.

 

[sheeplady]

You haven't a clue to what you are talking about.

Then please let me know how exactly I am in error?

 

[BigFitz]

Or people who buy houses near a camp and then complain about kid noise and bus traffic.

Or the people who buy near a small country airstrip and complain about the loud, low flying airplanes.

 

[vitanola]

As I understand Mr. Lyles, he was attempting to explain that the famous Hollywood sign was formerly rather difficult to locate, for although it is a prominent landmark the road rout to its base is complicated, obscure, and difficult, and so the homes near this famous landmark were, until the arrival of GPS, remote and peaceful, and almost entirely free from tourist traffic.

All of this has CHANGED with the coming of GPS, so that this FORMERLY quiet neighborhood is now quite overrun with tourists and thrill-seekers. The homeowners in question apparently understood that they were buying places near a minor tourist attraction, but the change in tourist traffic which accompanied the increased accessibility of this sign engendered by the almost universal use of GPS has created quite a disturbance, and interferes with their quiet enjoyment of their property.

The problem here appears to be a lack of basic civility on the part of the tourists in question, and perhaps also now on the part of some of the homeowners in question. Of course, this modern age has no monopoly on annoying, pushy, destructive tourists. Those who doubt this might well re-read Twain's "Innocents Abroad".

 

[ButteMT61]

Funny, nobody in Normandy (Fr) companied while we were there about tourists taking over their town.
Nor in any of the dozens of other places loaded with tourists spending their pesky money...
The world changes. We're doubled the population since I was a kid, so it's no surprise really. And the poor GPS, like the interwebs, has ruined the world... lol

 

[sheeplady]

I am sure that those neighbors are happy that prisoners aren't roaming their streets, they can drive on the highway, turn on their lights, and throw out their trash. All those things are in someone's backyard.

If the neighbors all dislike the tourists, then they ought to organize and pitch in to solve it. The only two solutions are to keep the tourists out or to make the area more tourist safe. It's unlikely that they really want their roads widened and houses demolished so they better work on keeping them out. Get organized and build a fence and privatize the roads.

One of the risks of owning property is that the government (and to some extent corporations) can decide that for the "good of the people" that something needs to be done which takes property and privacy from people. It is a risk as a property owner.

 

[V.C. Brunswick]

It could be worse. I have a book of aerial views of football (soccer) stadiums in the UK and what surprised me is how many of them are located right in the middle of what are essentially residential areas with access to some via passageways between the houses! I feel sorry for the folk who live around there given the notorious reputation of footy supporters.

 

[ButteMT61]

Im sure they're appeased by new Pubs in the area lol

 

[MissMittens]

It's like when I lived in Pebble Beach and everyone complained about the traffic from the Pro-Am and the Concours d'Elegance every year

I'd gladly trade you the Concours d'Elegance for the NASCAR trash that inhabit this town :lol :lol: :lol:

 

[rue]

I'd gladly trade you the Concours d'Elegance for the NASCAR trash that inhabit this town :lol :lol: :lol:

Hey now... I love my NASCAR and my Harvick..... don't even go there mister

Besides, I lived only about 10 miles from Richmond International Speedway for about 5 years and it wasn't that bad [huh]

 

[Tomasso]

It could be worse...... stadiums in the UK..........are located right in the middle of what are essentially residential areas.....

Golden Era baseball parks were nearly all situated in residential neighborhoods; Wrigley Field, Fenway Park, Comiskey Park, Ebbets Field, Yankee Stadium, etc........

 

[Philip Adams]

Im sure they're appeased by new Pubs in the area lol

Er - no. The pubs just make the football fans more obnoxious.

 

[AtomicEraTom]

I am sorry these people have to deal with increased tourists. So long as they're civil, it'd be fine, but I'm sure they're not.

There is never an excuse for that. Even moving to the country doesn't seem to stop it. My parents have 40 acres of woods around their house and now they just deal with constant trespassers and lot-dwellers surrounding their property using it as a dump.

I can understand if people are upset because they are walking all over their land, parking in their driveways, and spoiling their days and nights constantly

We lived by one for years. You really get used to it after awhile. The only negatives were some of the low flying planes would knock the tops of our trees off and sometimes they'd fall on the house, or the skydivers would get caught in the trees. We were surrounded by corn fields, minus a small wooded area by the house as a snow-barrier, and of course that's where they'd land lol Dad would get out the tractor and put Mom up in the bucket to untangle them.

Or the people who buy near a small country airstrip and complain about the loud, low flying airplanes.

From 88-91, we lived by County Stadium, built in a residential area. There was always plenty of traffic and people. They also used the stadium in the filming of Major League with Charlie Sheen while we lived over there.

 

[MissMittens]

Hey now... I love my NASCAR and my Harvick..... don't even go there mister

Besides, I lived only about 10 miles from Richmond International Speedway for about 5 years and it wasn't that bad [huh]

Pah, hamster, wheel, hardwood floor.......NASCAR

Round, and round, and round, and round, and yawn...........bedtime, LOL