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We are now at the heart of the festive season, a good time to stop and look back at the path we will never walk again. As we look out to the Pacific on a peaceful afternoon, the city is a like a gecko searching for the last rays of sunshine in which to bask. There is so much work to do to preserve Puerto Vallarta as the destination we fell in love with the first time we visited. There are many pending plans, projects and government programs at both the local and state levels, but many of them have remained stagnant because of severe economic or bureaucratic obstacles.
One of these projects is the preservation and restoration of the historic downtown district, which started as an enthusiastic project by the local authorities and community during the past year; however, this year that project came to a screeching halt due to a lack of resources. That’s one more year lost for this important urban project, which sought to homogenize the landscape of 18 city blocks in downtown Puerto Vallarta.
Better Public Transportation
Public transportation has been left out of the loop until today. There is an urgency to remove the noisy buses from downtown, which are like train cars driving half empty one after another. Halfway through this year, the state government through the Department of Motor Vehicles presented a project to develop a system of modern buses that would transit the main avenues, rerouting the bus lines and setting up authorized stops, and preventing erratic passing to gain passengers by establishing a pre-payment system. But in Mexico, all good ideas bring an array of criticism, a mountain of excuses and self-interests. The bus drivers figured that better service would take away their business and quickly blocked the project by requesting a “study.” The issue continues to be “studied,” without any set time limits, counteroffers or clear commitments to move forward.
Trash and Politics
Another issue that has still been left pending is defining a place to deposit the city’s solid waste; the deadline for using the city dump located in Magisterio is long past. Meanwhile, the city government is still trying to untangle the political ball of yarn with regard to the trash, an issue contaminated by politics.
The Economic Factor
As the year comes to an end, the United States economy plays an important factor in the world’s activities. Tourism is no exception, with experts predicting fewer middleclass visitors from the Americas but no decrease in higher income visitors. My Christmas wish is that these visitors continue to come and find a pleasant tourist destination, a clean city and a community that knows how to carry out its projects.
By Rodrigo López Becerril
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