Venice, Italy (pop. 50,011) has lost 70% of its population, and now has barely half as many permanent residents as Bellingham, Washington (pop. 92,289 as of 2021), a city that has grown despite loss of the big and smelly toilet paper factory that used to be there. (The whole city smelled like sulfur; locals called it “the smell of money.”)
Living in a tourist trap sucks. “Tourism is a double-edged sword because you take money but at the same time you expel all the activities and space for [the residents],” a local said, who describes Venice as “a cash machine.” The money, of course, goes elsewhere (e.g., absentee businesses and landlords).
Rents are sky-high, there are few decent jobs, and the loss of some cruise ship traffic (because of erosion) is making even the lousy, low-paying tourist-industry jobs (e.g., rowing gondolas) go away. There’s little shopping besides souvenir shops. It’s like living in Disneyland and not being able to afford the rides. Read story here.
According to Wikipedia (here), the city government is bankrupt. “Residents are abandoning the city, which is in danger of becoming an overpriced theme park.” The whole place is going to be underwater in a few years anyway.
Looking at this picture will cost you 200,000 Italian lire
