Overrun by Tourists, American Cities Are Taking Aim at Hotels

Peggy Malaspina, a resident of Charleston’s French Quarter neighborhood, is comfortable living among the hordes of tourists flocking to this charming South Carolina city of horse-drawn carriages, lush private courtyards, and 18th century churches. Every so often, she’ll spot someone peering into the windows of her home, assuming it’s a restaurant. If she’s feeling hospitable, she’ll invite them in to look around. “It comes with the territory,” Malaspina says.

More worrisome has been the raft of hotels springing up on the peninsula that encompasses Charleston’s tourist district and on its surrounding neighborhoods. Sitting through a city zoning board meeting, Malaspina watched three projects win approval in a single night, she says. Like many others here, she applauds an ordinance that toughens restrictions on new hotels but stops short of banning them altogether.