My wife and I have been visiting Sedona, Arizona for over a decade now but the Sedona we’re seeing this year is a very different place from the city we last visited in 2020. Short-term rentals (Airbnb/VRBO) were approved by the Sedona city council in late 2016 but have really seemed to have exploded during the past two years.
As many of you know I’ve always been a fan of staying in Airbnbs but haven’t really considered the impact the business has on the locals. After being here for a while and talking with locals I’m experiencing some of the negatives firsthand.
This city has always been a tourist town but what we've seen this year is an entirely different level of tourist-induced mayhem. Gridlocked traffic from mid-morning to mid-afternoon, skyrocketing rents, grocery store shelves stripped bare by tourists, parking shortages, and real estate prices that have more than doubled since we were last here in 2020. The traffic effectively cuts the city in half making it nearly impossible to get from one side of town to the other during most of the daylight hours.
We spoke with one shop owner who said local service workers can no longer afford to live in town, they must live in cheaper neighboring cities where housing is more affordable and commute.
As much as I love how Airbnb makes me feel like a local when I’m traveling, I'm now left feeling very conflicted about using the platform. There has to be a happy medium, some kind of limits imposed on the number of short-term rentals there can be in a certain area.
I can’t even imagine how life-altering this is for people who live here full time. The neighboring towns are hard at work getting their open land designated as a wine growing region so the land is protected from corporations snapping it up to build new housing for short-term rentals. I hope the locals are successful or this beautiful place might be ruined for future generations.
Who knows, maybe all the chaos we experienced this week was partially due to the full moon?
Happy Birthdays Are In Order!
Despite the negatives we’ve made the most of our past few days. Our son flew in to celebrate his birthday with us. We took him and my sister-in-law Lilli out for a great birthday dinner at an excellent Mexican restaurant called Mole. If you’re ever in these parts I highly recommend it. Happy Birthday Martese!
We hiked one of our favorite trails in the Amitabha Stupa and Peace Park
Surrounded by the warm red rock and sapphire blue sky, there’s something both magical and mystical about this place.
Amstel took his first hike with us but our senior beagle is tiring out much faster than he did when we were here last. I keep having to remind myself that two years is a long time in dog years. Thankfully at thirteen he still loves hitting the trail, sniffing freely in the wilderness, and getting his paws stained by the red rock.
The flowering trees are nearly in full bloom here. It's a welcomed sight because we won't be seeing this back in Minnesota until around mid-May.
I hope you all enjoy what's left of the weekend. We said goodbye to Martese this morning as the shuttle picked him up to take him to the Phoenix airport. We have four weeks left in this beautiful place so I'll have many more adventures to share. Happy first day of Spring (for those of you in the Northern hemisphere)!
Be well,
-Eric
(Photos are original.)
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