Carrie’s Ramblings

Walmart Campgrounds
Carrie posted in Uncategorized on May 15th, 2007

An interesting argument that is present in Whitehorse is the issue of the Walmart parking lot campground. Some of you may have heard that Walmarts allow RVs to camp for free in their parking lots overnight. For some small communities this has become a problem because it pulls buyers away from downtown cores and small businesses that depend on tourism to survive. Apparently, in Whitehorse allowing RVs to camp in their parking lot has already put one campground out of business and the community is not too impressed. There was even a protest where people tried to tent there overnight but they were kicked out. I’m not sure about the rules (for example, how do they prevent squatters?) but I was told today that in a couple of weeks there will be upwards of 80 or 90 RVs in the Walmart parking lot.

Whitehorse is definitely geared towards the long distance traveller. There are pull-through and RV-sized parking lots all over the place and at all of the major museums and attractions. The visitors information centre is HUGE and gorgeous and jam packed full of information about Whitehorse, the Yukon and Alaska. Appropriately, the northern regions work together in their tourism marketing campaigns instead of trying to out compete each other. It’s a good idea because people are already up here so they already have some plans. When I commented on the amount of RV traffic to a woman at Sport Yukon today during a meeting she rolled her eyes and smiled saying, “I’m pretty sure that every American has to make a pilgrimage to Alaska once in their lifetime…and they all have to stop here first!” If I didn’t have personal evidence to the contrary I wouldn’t hesistate to believe her! Thus far I’ve seen licence plates from Texas, Iowa, Idaho, and even (drum roll please) Alabama! (”When are we gonna convert our money to Alaskan money?”) But the city is well kept. The backs and sides of buildings are covered in huge beautiful murals, bear-proof garbage bins are painted and decorated, and buildings are painted and designed with old-fashioned facades to make everthing just quaint. Of course, you can walk 2 blocks off the main downtown core (by where I live) and see all the group homes and shacks that look like the prospectors built them during the gold rush and they haven’t changed since (nor has anyone taken out the garbage since). But still, there are walking paths and sidewalks and so many souvenir shops and easy-to-access tour groups and river boats etc. It’s well designed and something I think that Thunder Bay should learn from. These are the kinds of things a city needs to do if it wants to attract and hold visitors. Clean it up!

So the issue of Walmart campgrounds is one of great debate. On the one hand it can increase tourism in an area by ensuring that people stop and spend the night and on the other hand local campgrounds and businesses are feeling the strain. Who knows…