Too much ice cream

By Charles Houston

Hallstatt, Austria is often listed as the world’s prettiest village. Hallstatt is small – 760 or so residents – and sits on a ledge where the towering Dachstein Massif plunges to the HallstatterSee. 

The 16-th century houses are quaint, built in Alpine style and with geranium-filled window boxes everywhere. Church spires, narrow streets, several hotels and old boathouses and churches complete the picture-postcard tableau. Google Hallstatt but please don’t visit. I’ll explain.

As far back as the Bronze Age, for centuries Hallstatt was a major producer of salt, which until the modern era was the only way to cure and preserve meat. The fairytale town prospered from the white mineral then, and now it prospers from tourism.

While tourists had visited Hallstatt for decades, two things caused Hallstatt tourism to explode. First was its designation as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1997, joining familiar places such as Stonehenge, Versailles, old Paris, the Great Wall of China and nearby, Monticello. While that certification promoted preservation, it was a mixed bag as the publicity spurred tourism. Local businesses welcomed new customers, but regular citizens began to feel crowded.

All remained in rough equilibrium, though, until around 2010 when Hallstatt became a must-see destination for China’s thriving middle class. Planeloads of them arrived in Salzburg, an hour away, or in Munich. Many others were on “See Europe” bus tours. 

Fleets of jam-packed buses appeared in Hallstatt daily. Ancient streets became cacophonous as the wheels of Chinese tourists’ luggage was rolled over cobblestones. Locals reported that some tourists would simply open residential front doors and wander around their homes. 

Visiting Hallstatt became so popular in China that an exact replica was built in city of Huizhou, on the Pearl River not far from Hong Kong. This simulacrum cost some $940 million and opened in 2012. Instead of siphoning off some of the tourist traffic, it only promoted more. In high season some 10,000 visitors arrived in Hallstatt each day. 

Enough. The citizens finally realized they had partaken too much of the tourism ice cream. One early step to reclaim their village was to restrict the number of buses that were permitted each day. Before the benefits were considered permanent, COVID hit. Tourists fled and peace and quiet prevailed. At least for now.

What does this have to do with Loudoun County? 

A lot, actually. The succubus of growth has been feasting on Loudoun for decades. Peace and quiet has become the exception, not the rule. The character of much of the county has changed as the population exploded. No one is suggesting that somehow we shrink, but the hope of conservationists is that population growth stops, or at least materially slows. “That ain’t gonna happen,” I say when I feel pessimistic.

I’m an optimist, though, and I say we should fight hard to slow growth. All it takes would be a few changes to the zoning ordinance. That’s a huge challenge.

There’s one challenge we can win: Ensuring that western Loudoun does not become commercialized or turn into a drink-and-drive destination. 

Conservationists are not trying to close our successful breweries, wineries, inns and such. They add interest to western Loudoun. The goal is to make sure we control the number of new commercial uses. Like Hallstatt, we’ve eaten too much ice cream. I’m not suggesting a radical diet, just temperance.

Our existing rural firms should support the idea of possibly restraining new businesses, not just to protect the scenic countryside which helps them, but also for their economic self-interest: Limiting future competition will protect the current profits of businesses that are here now. Economists call such limits “barriers to entry,” which always help existing firms. 

The overarching issue is how much commercialization is appropriate for western Loudoun. It’s up to the Board of Supervisors to answer that question.

Charles Houston developed office buildings for an Atlanta-based firm. He lives in Paeonian Springs.