With February coming to a close end, Spring Break 2018 for Panama City Beach, FL is just around the corner. But there are a number of concerns for people in the community as they gear up to face the mobs of out of town tourists and college students once again.

In previous years, there has been a lot of issues going on with the beach. This has made it very difficult for locals to even want to enjoy the beach. Though lots of money is being made for local businesses it also comes at a cost. For many, Panama City Beach has been the number one party spot for Spring Break. But after the increased crime and violence in 2014, officials tried to make the beaches more “family friendly”. Mayor Mike Thomas took the responsibility of cleaning up the beaches under his own belt and limited alcohol consumption on the beach as well as other new ordinances.

There are many who are fed up with what the beaches have become but local businesses do miss that extra money they had received from the previous years. “During September, October, November, December, you know you’re going to be slow you know you’re not going to make that much money, but then you know when March comes, you’ll be able to catch up on bills that you got behind on during the off season,” said Rachel Burke who is a general manager of a beach restaurant, “I’m not saying I want to have a wild, crazy, out of control spring break again, but there’s got to be a happy medium somewhere like you can’t take that much income and then all of the sudden snatch it away from people.” However, without the alcohol and the number of limitations put into place, lots of college students are traveling elsewhere in order to have a good time.

What are your thoughts? Do you think Spring Break should go back to the way it was or stay safe for everyone as it is now?

http://www.mypanhandle.com/news/panama-city-beach-identity-crisis-will-spring-break-make-a-return/970585141

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Meagan Stone

Student Author - Spring 2018

Senior at GCSC pursuing a Bachelors in Applied Science in Digital Media. With over 5 years professional experience in graphic arts, I hope to someday bring my skills overseas.