I really don't like condominiums on the beach. In fact, you could probably say that I despise them. They are nothing but giant monstrosities that make the beach look ugly. They block out the sun and they make me feel sick when I stand near them and look up to the top.

Why wouldn't tourists rather have nature? I've heard it so many times - "If I'm gonna come down here and pay so much money I want to wake up and see the beach." But why!? Why wouldn't tourists rather go to a preserve like Gulf Islands National Seashore? There is no development for miles, there are only beautiful beaches. Beautiful beaches that everyone can share and enjoy.

I think I know why tourists like condos on the beach - because the condo owns the beach in front of it and they can make it a private beach. Tourists come down here and pay tons of money for a condo so that they can own their own little section of the beach for a week. And that is BS. I hate the fact that tourists think they can own any part of this beach! Call me a hippie if you want - maybe I am one - but I believe the beach should be free and open to everyone! I absolutely hate the fact that you can drive to Destin and not find any public beach for miles. Sometimes it makes me want to cry.

Usually when I think about a problem so much, I try to think of a solution instead of just complaining nonstop. So here is my best idea so far: build your tall condos and hotels away from the beach. Build them in the city, or wherever. If there are no condos on the beach, we can have miles and miles of public beach access points and tourists can drive to the beach just like we locals do. Hell, if the hotels want to offer perks, offer shuttles to the beach! The carpooling will eliminate some of the traffic! And now that I brought that up, I must say I don't really give a damn about the traffic problems this plan would create because serious traffic problems already exist on the Island and in Destin. With my solution we'd have traffic just like we do now, but at least we'd have nice beaches.

Call me crazy, but I truly believe that we would bring in more tourists if we could offer miles of undisturbed, undeveloped beaches.

The Condominium Problem, as I like to call it, is a very serious issue to me. Please, take the time to go to my forum and tell me what you think.