I read this article this morning from the WJHG (Panama City's News Channel) website. They can't fill up the rooms that are there now but they keep building more and more high rise condos?!?!?!?!?!?

Heads in Beds
Alana Adams
Beach business owners are hoping the Indian Summer Festival will boost motel room rentals. They could use some help.

Bed tax collections are down about $55,000 for the month of June. TDC officials say it's not because of a lack of available rooms. Apparently the beach is unable to draw visitors from new markets in significant numbers.

The traditional markets, Georgia, Alabama, and Florida, continue to make-up 35 percent of the local tourist business.

Less people are also visiting the TDC's website. Web traffic is down seven percent this year. But a new ad agency is about to unveil a new website at Beachloversbeach.com.

Must be planning for the future. Seems PCB is in a transition phase. I wouldn't let it worry me, though. There will still be plenty of fun, romance, adventure, nightlife, and lazy days for everyone.

What you don't understand is that the old Panama City is slowing being removed for the new and improved. In ten years or less Panama City Beach will be above and beyond what Destin is today. The ability of a young person to get a couple of hundred dollars in a pay check on a Friday and jump in the car with a cooler full of beer and some clothes and drive to PCB to party and find a cheap $25-40 dollar a night hotel on the beach won't be there. That kind of patronage is being squeezed out. There won't be any spontaneity, if you want to come to PCB you will have to plan and bring friends to cover the cost of a condo. And you won't be able to cut loose because if you knock over that lamp or puke on the carpet there goes your $500.00 dollar deposit up in smoke. Nope PCB won't be the wild wonderful playground for the 20-25 crowd unless they bring money with them to cover the bills. Maybe that's a good thing, maybe not, but like it or not you can see it happening, because were you see 9 condos being built now, I see another 20!

The less expensive options will still be around, they just probably won't be waterfront. Panama City Beach is expanding in all directions and I'm positive it will include a variety of accommodations and entertainment options.

I agree there can always be found many inexpensive places, they just won't be along the beach. I mean when places like Breakers and can be bought out for condo property, no one on the beach is immune from the big green dollar.

It's really sad to me to see how the PCB I grew up with is being dismantled. If I wanted to visit Destin, I'd go to Destin. Maybe the new PCB will be better for those who can afford it, but there's a good chance it won't. I'm 38 and have seen more changes in the last two years than at any other time. I'll be able to afford coming to PCB but I can't help but wonder if all of the old attractions get bought out and replaced with condos, is the beach by itself a big enough draw to fill all these condos? I'll bet that if all these condos end up not making as much money as they're forecasting, the prices ultimately will come down. That's certain to slow all this "expansion." Like the old saying goes: Be careful what you wish for, you may just get it.

I'm going to miss the old PCB. And I'm not the only one.

I agree - it is sad how PCB has changed over the years. My theory is that all Panama City is concerned about is money, so they figure there are plenty of old folks who can afford to buy condos and retire there. I suppose the condos will make more money than our amusement parks did and more money than the smaller hotels that spring breakers rented. It is rumor that Club La Vela will be demolished before Spring Break and Schooners doesn't have much longer until they sell out to a condo, but who knows, all we can do is hope for the best.

it's sad??????!!!!!! i don't get it?!

pcb is growing which will:

- increase revenue for the county and city to improve roads, parks, beach access, etc.
- create more jobs
- increase wages and salaries for peopl who work in pcb
- increase property value for homeowners in and around pcb
- attract bigger and better attractions (miracle strip vs. six flags? mircale strip can kiss my ***)
- attract big name concerts
- possibly attract a professional sports team
- provide a better environment for events and festivals
- possibly turn pcb into a year-round destination, which will decrease the number of people who depend on unemployment during the winter months
- attract more restaurants, shops, clubs, etc, providing more variety to visitors
- i'm sure theres more.................

so how is that a bad thing????

i grew up in destin and saw first hand how those "changes" increased the quality of life for the people who live there. opportunity is a good thing.

that's why i don't understand why so many people are against a new airport in pcb. it will open the doors of opportunity for so many.

and i agree with swn there will still be options for budget minded visitors. in fact there will probably be more options. it just might not be your favorite hotel that you grew up with.

Tim, sounds like you work for the chamber of commerce lol

I agree that progress can be a good thing, but there are many people who come to PCB for specific reasons. For me it's a familiar place that I grew up in. I haven't stayed in Destin since 1989 and haven't been to Fort Walton Beach since 1990. On the other hand, I've visited PCB an average of twice a year for as long as I can remember. If the things that make PCB distinct from Destin, Fort Walton, Gulf Shores, etc., vanish, what is the draw? There's no guarantee that the business PCB is likely to lose because of higher-priced condos will be replaced by people who have been going to Destin and Fort Walton for years.

As for some of your other points, I don't see a professional sports team coming to a smallish tourist town, nor do I see big-time concerts coming if something were to happen to La Vela or Spinnaker. Plus, I think PCB already was becoming more of a year-round destination during the last 20 years.

But these are relatively minor points in my mind. I guess my biggest gripe is this: When all the old mom-and-pop motels, restaurants and clubs are replaced by this monolithic condos, how many stretches of Front Beach Road do you figure will include a beach view? I couldn't give a damn less about residents' property values when compared to that. If people want to see Destin, they should go to Destin. When I go to PCB, I would like to see PCB.

You make good points Tim, however if this were a debate, I would suggest that there is no need for change. Change is like playing roulette - it can be for the best or for the worst. Because I am under 25, my main concern is having fun on the beach during the Spring and Summer season . I work on the beach and I doubt my salary will increase as more condo's replace small hotels. As for concerts and professional sports, I would rather have them in other cities 2 hours away, such as Pensacola and Tallahassee, because the last thing we need is more traffic . The only kind of restaurants that will move to PC are ones that can afford to buy out hotels and local beach clubs, such as a Captain Anderson's type restaurant, which is not a low-budget restaurant. I doubt Florida will fund another club or two despite the revenue gained from condos. If it were a club worth going to (for my age group), the committee will suggest that it will become another La Vela and promote a drug-induced atmosphere and bring down too many young tourists during the warm seasons, and that means too much of our tax dollars going to law enforcement for working extra hard and making many arrests during the season. I would not say on a general scale, that change increased the quality of life for Destin residence, but I am not concerned about Destin. For some people, Miracle Strip Park and the hotels people "grew up with" are what make it worth coming back to Panama City :). Some people I know only care about the sentimental value and how the beach used to be, for example, the people who have lived here all their lives. I remember when I was younger, I could drive down Front Beach Drive and see the beach from the road at several places, but now the beach is blocked by all of these new condos. I suppose it is a matter of whether you think in Logos or Pathos, in a psychological perspective. There was no problem with Panama City to begin with, so why should we take the chance of creating one ? It is devastating enough to have the quality of our Spring Break decreased every year due to condos rising, an increase in law enforcement, and threats to tear down night clubs . Because of this, MTV stopped coming to PCB several years ago and our tourism industry (our main economy) took a hard hit. Now to make up for the city's mistake, they are trying to attract an older population of people to live or to retire in Panama City Beach. They don't care about the younger generation anymore, because they can make more money off of the older generations, and the last thing I want to see is our Spring Break and Summer dying down every year, but no matter what happens, my friends and I will keep the old spirit alive in Panama City Beach and come back every year for Summer and Spring Break :D.

This is getting good. It's interesting and informative to see the different points of view! I look forward to reading more -- I don't see this as a flame war brewing, just good healthy debate.
:)

yeah i guess if i were a tourist or springbreaker whose main objective was to save money then the changes and growth probably wouldn't look that appealing.

Well, face it, Panama City Beach is a tourist town. If tourists didn't come to PCB then there wouldn't be any new condos being built and we wouldn't be having this debate. So tourists' opinions count. If some of these 12-story high condos fail to make as much money as their money-minded owners wish, then they'll be thinking even harder about tourists' opinions in the future.

Yes, saving money is important to tourists. That's not a news flash. My main gripe is that what made PCB into PCB is being torn down.

All these changes may improve PCB. But they may not. We'll just have to see if the changes draw more tourists or not.

I'm a tourism executive in Las Vegas, which has grown from 750,000 people to over 1.7 million in the 13 years I have been here. I know growth. Been through it.

It's all about the big picture:

1. To those who say "It's the money ... people are selling out for the dollar" ... DUH. HELLOOOOOOOO!!!

Let's say you bought a house today in Bay County on an acre lot for $200,000. A house in a nice area and good location. Let's say that five years from now, as your area grows, the house and land end up being worth $1,000,000 (hypothetically ... don't be a moron and get off into a housing discussion regarding if that could happen).

You got lucky, perhaps the area boomed, or something cool was built in the area, whatever. Values had increased then topped out for now (IE, you knew that holding on another five years wouldn't double the value again).

You would probably sell in a heartbeat. Just make sure they spell your name on the check properly. You wouldn't care if they were going to build a skyscraper to block other people's view, or a megamart that would create traffic snarls in the area.

So don't be critical of the beachfront property owners who cash out. You would do the very same thing in their shoes. Unless you are a nun or have taken some vow of poverty, 99.999% of everyone will sell in a legal transaction that will make them a multi-millionaire.

2. To those worried that they can't get a cheap room, that spring break will go away, et. al. ... think about it: Maybe your patronage isn't what the area wants. Maybe the people who visit year around spend far more money than you do.

Once again, it is about the dollar: If you owned a business and you have a choice between a few hot weeks of customers with little cash, or an entire year of customers who have deep pockets, of course you will choose the year-round rich customers!

Co'mon ... spring breakers might budget $50-100 a day total in spending money. The more well-healed visitors that Panama City Beach wants to attract all year long spend that just on dinner at a nice restaurant. Not including their $20 cigar and $10 (each) drinks.

3. Bay County is lucky to still have land and space (unlike Destin which is getting choked with traffic, driving people to vacation elsewhere). You can build a new airport, four lane roads, and I wouldn't be shocked to see a bridge over West Bay (near Hathaway but built north) in the next decade. You have plenty of water for homes and businesses (public water for drinking, bathing). A port and a rail line. Plus the most beautiful beaches I have ever seen in the US, and I've been to half of Dr. Beach's top ten beaches.

Of course you are going to grow as people see the advantages of the area! And yes ... it will no longer be the bargain destination it was.

4. Will the growth help the economy? Absolutely. Let's say you are Mr. Fat A@@ Industry Executive Business Owner with a plant in Michigan where taxes and unions are killing you. You want to relocate your 5000 person factory which pays good wages, and you want to keep it in the US. But Michigan has sports teams, concerts, events, and plenty of lifestyle ammenities you enjoy.

Are you going to put the factory in the Bay County of today? Probably not unless you really just love the beach. But 10 years from now, will you bring your factory to the Bay County that has a real airport (because you need to fly often), and attracts concerts, sports, and events that you enjoy? Sure you will. You'll put it 15 miles north of town in 231 with rail access and put 5000 new people to work in Bay County. 5000 good jobs. And that will be repeated over and over and over again.

Didn't mean to write a thesis. But growth is coming. And it will bring opportunity. It did where I live. Big time. You can whine and fight it and watch it pass you by, or you can look at how to benefit from it. If you live there or visit often, who better than you to stay ahead of the curve, and figure out how to profit and live well in the new Panama City Beach.

Ted was very informative. But, again, my main gripe is not about the big economical picture. It's much more personal.

For the past 25 years, PCB has been my favorite vacation spot.
I'm concerned that will change in the near future. Period.

That irritates me because once PCB becomes Destin-lite, or Vegas-by-the-beach, or the Outlet Capital of the Panhandle, or whatever the grand plan is, what made Panama City Beach distinct will be no more.

So all the talk of airports, locals' property values and not blaming people for wanting to make a buck rings hollow in my ears. It's similar to when a father works seven nights a week to make more money for his familiy, but misses his daughter's first steps, his son's first home run and such. Yes, the father gained something. But he lost something too.

Ted's conclusion that "You can whine and fight it and watch it pass you by, or you can look at how to benefit from it" entirely misses the point of having a favorite vacation spot. Sure, I can make another dollar, but can I make another memory at a place once its gone?

That's my point.