I spent a few days up in Provincetown MA for the Norman Mailer Society conference. I’ve been going since the NMS began five years ago, though the inaugural conference was held in Brooklyn. It’s really the closest thing that I get to any vacation, and since it’s the off-season, the rates are more reasonable, the streets are less crowded, and the weather is closer to enjoyable.
Provincetown, I keep saying, is a place I’d love to retire to, when all of my work here is done. Money aside, I just could not envision living in a place like Provincetown, Northampton, Asheville, or even Portland, where a liberal community is already thriving. To me, it seems like an easy way out.
As ideal of a place as it is in many ways–beautiful views, middle-of-nowhere, small town (in winter), thriving art community, anything goes gay community, and cultural events almost constantly–there are two things that have not sat well with me.
Provincetown is prohibitively expensive. That means that the people who make it work–housekeepers, bartenders, baristas, etc.–can not possibly make enough money working there to live there. If they do happen to live in town, they must have to share a place with about four other adults. I still don’t find that very likely. It seems grossly unfair to me that those with the nicer, more professional jobs are capable of owning waterfront property, while those who scrub the toilets are likely bussed in from elsewhere.
The other thing that has always struck me has been the tourism. I don’t think that’s bad in itself, and Provincetown is not as dirtied by it as some other places, but there are telltale signs–a few tacky t-shirt shops.
This has been one of the things about urban renewal that makes me uneasy. When developers talk about luring people into Hartford, I worry that this will mean opening up places that only outsiders could really enjoy. I read a piece in yesterday’s Boston Globe about a protest on one of the Hawaiian islands. One person was quoted, saying that she felt her home was like a playground, like a Disneyland, and that people come to see the natives. Well, I have never been to Provincetown in the summer, but I imagine that the locals must feel somewhat displaced, suddenly having to wait in lines for tables at restaurants. How do you make a place more alluring to the outside, without alienating the residents? How do you make sure that they don’t get trampled on?