Posted by annam on Wednesday, May 17, 2017 in 2017 Blog post.

During our walking tour of Cefalu, we discussed how tourism is making prices rise for the locals. As I walk down the streets to class, or even when I look down from our balcony, I can see little shops selling touristy goods such as mugs and magnets. As you can see, the walk from the apartment to the boardwalk is filled with souvenir stores. Tourists walk in large groups throughout the cobblestone streets, lounge at restaurants and cafes, sharing the same space as locals. As Vittoria mentioned, there is no special discount for locals when stores increase their prices- they have to pay the same amount as tourists. Even the property prices have skyrocketed, matching a far larger city’s prices such as Palermo’s. Of course Nashville is far larger of a city than Cefalu, but some parallels can be drawn. From what I see, Nashville is attracting more young professionals and is gentrifying. Throughout Nashville, rundown housing is being bought up and turned into trendy restaurants and hipster stores. Buildings are being knocked down everywhere, while new, expensive apartment complexes pop up every month. Slowly, lower income housing is disappearing. Nashville too is becoming a hard place to live for the less wealthy. Prices are increasing to match the tourist and wealthier inhabitant influx.

At least in Nashville, the economy is better and young working people are moving in. In Cefalu, we discussed how the young people are leaving since there are a limited amount of jobs. There is a brain drain as tourism is the only industry. It struck me that I still have not seen a university here in Cefalu; and while I am sure there is one nearby, it seems as though most young people try to leave at an early age. I wonder if Cefalu would be impacted if the European economy picks up as a whole in terms of perhaps expanding further and adding a new industry. Brain drains are detrimental to a town’s economy, as the environment will become a hostile place for innovation. This differs from Nashville’s problem since Nashville has been trying to foster a technology start up industry and such. Though prices are going up in both places, Nashville is becoming a more desirable place to live while Cefalu remains a desirable place to visit/vacation.