I note with dismay the push to increase tourism in Plymouth. We say Plymouth is “America’s Hometown.” That implies people actually live here. There seems to be a coordinated push by town government to ignore the needs and wants of its residents.
With this push to increase development, traffic has become unmanageable. Stresses on our police officers has increased dramatically. With multiple family housing and high-density housing, stresses on all town services (school, fire, roads, sewage/water, police) has increased dramatically. Hence real estate taxes have increased significantly and with rates well beyond wealthier communities such as Duxbury. The net result is those on fixed incomes such as the elderly cannot afford to live in their long-term homes. Those just starting out face mortgages or rents that are onerous.
But most important, the quality of life has deteriorated dramatically for our long-term residents. Those long-term residents want us to continue to be America’s Hometown. Not a high-density town of high rises, multi dwelling condos, bars, T-shirt shops, and restaurants. The direction of town government in fostering development the way they have been or trying to increase tourism is just plain wrong as it’s so detrimental to the quality of life of town voters.
– Lee Corwin