Jeremy, I have to agree with Bruno. At this point Venice is impractical as a city. The hotels have driven the majority of habitants out leaving just the tourist and the rich. And a city that isn't alive is little more than a museum piece to be bought and sold, as you say. When talking to people that visit Venice I rarely hear about the Venetians. Paris, London, New York, and Rome don't have this problem. You cant talk about those places without talking about the inhabitants. While I think buildings are nice to look at they only make up a small part of the culture.

I hope the mayor of Venice charges an admission fee to tourist. It would make people realize what it is, an oddity or an amusement park. They were so determined to preserve their culture that the people finally walked out. They have done nothing to address the housing problems. And now that the tax base is gone tourism and sponsorship is their few, remaining options. Coca-Cola is sponsoring now, but what will they do 5 or 10 years from now?

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