By Jeanie Carroll, Sedona Resident
(April 23, 2019)
After typing this I realize it’s long. But I’ve kept silent for 27 years. It doesn’t matter what term Steve Segner coins for the good-intentioned “shaking up” of the issues that we can rely on Donna Varney for in the current political issues of Sedona. You go, girl!
As much as I was a proponent of Vacation Rentals while in Real Estate 25 years ago in Sedona, as the teacher I became after that, I see the devastation to the student population in our schools and the need for LONG-term AFFORDABLE housing for families, teachers and other workers. This may seem a separate issue, but my point is WE ARE ALREADY on the world map.
Sedona, as a travel destination could literally STOP all the advertising it does for day trips from Phoenix and all the ads I saw on TV while visiting Chicago and New York City recently. People all over the world know about us now so we could absolutely STOP all advertising and our tourism would not slow.
That said, all of the businesses who belong to the Chamber pay a significant amount to be showcased in our local literature that is disseminated to people thinking to come here or who are already here. I belonged to the Chamber for 20 of the 27 years I’ve lived here. We should use the advertising dollars projected for the next 5 years on infrastructure so that tourists AND locals can navigate the roads in this town and so that FAMILIES can afford to live here.
I would venture to say that at least 50% of our workforce in Sedona has school-aged children. Those tax dollars are serving other communities around Sedona.
We love our tourists. But we also need to love our locals. Advertising in the near future is no longer necessary. We have built it; they will come. And come. And come. Let’s ask the City to contribute the bed tax to making safe alternate car routes and paths that our pedestrian tourists and our locals will use.
My contraversial suggestion is to reopen and improve Schnebly Hill Road and even more contraversially to build a road like at Hoover Dam. OVER Red Rock Crossing- NOT through it. At Hoover Dam it is an architectural marvel and SO practical. And NOT a scenic overlook.
Will it alter the landscape? Yes. But, the NIMBY’s will be SO happy in the long run since traffic will BYPASS their homes, not drive through their neighborhoods.
Another mini solution for West Sedona traffic is to take it up Airport Rd and down the other side AROUND/BEHIND West Sedona neighborhoods coming out at Upper Red Rock Loop Rd (and/or Lower RR Loop). We do NOT need to alter the views as much as people think.
Living and working and playing and LOVING Sedona for 27 years makes me lean towards these solutions. We do not need to uproot neighbors in West Sedona and put roads through their homes. We put roads along the LONG way because we can afford it and our tourist dollars will help pay for it.
I raised my daughters here, had a glorious teaching and singing and Wedding biz career here and no matter where I go in the world, I will always consider Sedona my home. I hope to see real improvements to our quality of life beyond the beauty that surrounds us every day.
People need to LIVE here. WE live here.
Love,
Jeanie Carroll
Music Educator K-8, Real Estate Broker, Vocalist, Actress, Disc Jockey, Wedding Officiant, Photographer, Wedding Planner and Coordinator, ESL teacher.
Single Mother of Two and Sedona Dynamite Diva.
Needed all these careers to survive in Sedona these last 27 years!
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7 Comments
It is sad to see how Sedona has evolved. My daughter went to Big Park and SRRHS and thrived in both. If I had young children I would not move to Sedona now. If only because of the traffic congestion, and there are myriad other reasons. Pedestrian walkways and bike paths are a nice fantasy. Few will walk or ride in 100 degree temperatures or snow.
We need to stop the foolish chamber subsidy NOW. Sedona already has more tourists and the related traffic than it can handle. The chamber and some of the tourist related businesses are driven by greed. I was sitting in a meeting where one of the Sedona hotel owners talked about how quiet it was on the 40 acres he just bought in Montana.
Until the residents rise up and demand this foolishness stop, it will only get worse.
@Tony T
You comments make it sound like you live in Sedona…..which you don’t .
Go away and “help” your new community.
Also Jeannie Carrol…. Thank you for your comments, you seem very sincere and helpful. Appreciate your comments. Unlike the angry man who posted above who shares nothing but nonsense.
To the editors of Sedona.biz
Are you going to let these personal attacks from “Richard Saunders, Susan Thomas et all continue? It adds nothing to your website. If you delete them it will stop.
Editors of Sedona Biz
Not sure who that Richard Saunders is Tony speaks of …. But my comments are based on observations of Tony’s rantings and name calling and half baked ideas over the years. My comments are facts. Plus if you actually knew what he has done in the past(horrible horrible webpages created) literally attacking individuals anonymously, you wouldn’t let him post here. Believe it.
Plus he does not live in Sedona(FACT).
Mr. Tonsich, none of this is relevant to this Letter to The Editor. Please keep to the topic. Thank you. ~Sedona.biz Staff
A few facts:
My Ex girlfriend created a website [remainder of comment removed by editor] …
Once again, I recently moved outside the Sedona City limits.
“Mr. Tonsich, none of this is relevant to this Letter to The Editor. Please keep to the topic. Thank you. ~Sedona.biz Staff”
My point exactly. Nor does Susan Thomas personal attack on me.
In the metropolitan areas, the word is “density.” I grew up in Long Beach, California. My dad was in the Navy, but they closed the base and sold it to the Chinese. Slowly the little houses on large deep lots began to disappear and be replaced with apartment buildings and condos that took up the entire lot. But now, even those older apartment buildings are beginning to disappear and they are being replaced with high-rise apartment buildings. Everything I knew of as a kid is gone – the old Pike (not the corporate Pike of today), places where you can watch the Long Beach Grand Prix for free, The Spruce Goose and the Queen Mary, pick up ball games at the park… the park is a city parking lot now.
So now the idea is “sustainable.” How will we “sustain” the ecology of Sedona when, on the other hand, population is exploding and we don’t have enough housing. That’s when we think about density. And the city council has just said that 4 story buildings are OK. Shall we allow areas — like the “redevelopment” of the Andante — and plan for DENSITY and make have four story buildings with TWO bedroom/ TWO bath apartments, or shall we try to hold on to the way things used to be? Which is “sustainable?”