I feel like the prom date whose escort chickens out at the last moment, all dressed up and nowhere to go.
The Inn on the Alameda, like all the hotels, took a real blow to the solar plexus when the 14-day quarantine went into effect for out-of-state visitors. But I still support the governor who, due to many reasons beyond New Mexico’s control, has found herself between a rock and a hard place.
If a coordinated approach similar to the governor’s had been implemented nationwide, July would now be economically rocking and rolling. So we are going to have to wait longer and as patiently as we can until much of the nation catches up to the job we have been doing.
But the bigger problem that is coming is fundamental to Santa Fe’s future as one of the top tourist destinations in the world.
Some guests of ours posted in Tripadvisor that they “loved the Inn” but checked out the following day because locals on the Plaza had profiled them as tourists and yelled offensively, “Go home. We do not want your coronavirus.” Our guests concluded in their posted review that Santa Fe is clearly not ready to return to its former status. This is not a good thing to see happening.
Another issue is the increased noise from motorcycles, modified truck and car mufflers, and drag racing. The inn is right on East Alameda, so while working on our landscaping this year, I have been watching some locals’ behavior.
Sometimes, when certain drivers look over and see a guest, many intentionally rev up their illegally oversize mufflers, grind through their gears when accelerating and make every imaginable effort to create as much noise as possible.
Many studies now conclude that noise pollution is an under-represented field in urban health and quality-of-life issues. What can we do to stop the rapid erosion of all the decades of civic commitment to maintain our unique City Different visitor appeal?
The entire city is now victim to the increased noise pollution, which seems to be more than coincidentally tied to the pressures and tensions associated with the unemployment and stress-related issues of COVID-19. It seems many of our residents are spring-loaded in the ticked-off position.
The cities of Paris and Alberta, Canada, are implementing noise detection equipment that triangulates and locates the source of illegal decibel levels and takes a photo of the offender’s license plate, and hefty fines are issued. We can do this here, and the city is looking into that option.
But this treats the symptom, not the cause. Undeniably, there is no way to get around the fact that our economy is primarily driven by tourism, and that is not a bad thing. What is happening to us as Santa Feans that such a new rage at visitors is emerging, and what is the strategy to reverse these dangerous sentiments?
Joe Schepps is the president and co-owner of the Inn on the Alameda and has lived in New Mexico for 50 years.
