Locals feel helpless as vacation rentals overrun Sedona,

[mistyriver]

I went back to visit Sedona two years ago after having left AZ eighteen years before.
There is a frigging Chico’s store in Sedona.
You know..the Florida based women’s clothing chain.
They’ve killed Sedona.

[trouillot]

Had rental in Sedona near Bashas and rental in Village of Oak Creek near the IGA. Sedona has slowly changed for many years, but especially the past ten years the changes really got to me. Missed the laid back atmosphere that's pretty much gone. Preferred the Village of Oak Creek before all the road construction. Commercialization has really grown in the Village. My last years of work in Sedona to and from Verde Valley felt increasingly like there is a hurried and sometimes aggressive nature to people I rarely saw in better years past in Sedona. Moved across the country to help with elderly family, and do not miss today's Sedona excepting early bike rides and hiking walks in morning or late afternoon before trails got busy. Sedona another of many places that have seen better days. Newer residents/visitors who don't remember better times in Sedona will never realize this though, know that is what harm growth, wealth and investors can do to a once nice place. Will fondly remember smell of pinon smoke on the breeze, light snow dusting on red rocks and serenely peaceful hikes along and through Oak Creek Canyon before the onslaught changed life there forever.

[wase4711]

corporate money, and social media have slowly but surely, ruined many of the great things that places like Sedona used to be..

[Masterful_Man]

Originally Posted by wase4711

corporate money, and social media have slowly but surely, ruined many of the great things that places like Sedona used to be..

Sedona is like a natural Disneyland, it was bound to attract too many people.
What brought all the attention was when the new age movement began to advertise Sedona has a special, sacred, spiritual place with energy vortexes.. Once the new age Oprah crowd caught on to that, Sedona began to explode in the early 2000's.

On the upside, Sedona is now so expensive that growth will be limited to only the select few who can afford to live there.

[chaparrito]

I live 20 minutes outside Sedona. If my doctor wasn't there, I'd never go. I lived in Oak Creek Canyon in the late 70s. Old Sedona is forever lost. The vacation rentals are not the cause of Sedona's problems; just another symptom.

[trouillot]

Originally Posted by chaparrito

I live 20 minutes outside Sedona. If my doctor wasn't there, I'd never go. I lived in Oak Creek Canyon in the late 70s. Old Sedona is forever lost. The vacation rentals are not the cause of Sedona's problems; just another symptom.

Sad but true. Sedona of past, even as late as late 1990's past, gone forever. Growth. Development. Progress some call it. Good part of main drag through town looks so junky with all that signage. Long time residents know how much more vehicular traffic there is now (but to those who come from LA (or whatever crowded place), smile and say it's nothing). Just part of the disconnect from those who lived Sedona before and transplants living it now. Take away CA folks with their big buck real estate sales buying power and still but one part of problem that diminished Sedona quality of life. I think 'bout a middle-age couple who bought fixer-upper along Coffee Pot on less than 1/5 acre for $255,000. Their dream to live in Sedona. Couldn't afford Sedona stick built but tired of throwing money at rent. Bought old tarted-up single wide, but easy to see the particle board surfaces, dodgy heating system, flooring surfaces that felt flimsy when walked on, etc. Could not understand why anyone would pay that kind of money for a place like that, but that kinda stuff has been selling in Sedona for many years now. People must figure it'll only be worth more in future. Maybe they're right.

[Electrician4you]

Originally Posted by sylentvoyce

Such is life in this country.

Beautiful places will soon home to the rich only, and maybe a vacation spot to everyone else.

Of course this is America. The mindset is: If you are not rich, it is your own fault.

I’d like to know who do you think is at fault for you not being rich?