From the Publisher's Desk February 2006

From the Publisher's Desk

It´s Time for the Golden Zone to Get Serious

Thanks to the efforts of the Centro Historico Association, the Tres Islas Hotel Association and various levels of government, we have seen a marked improvement in the southern part of our city. The Centro Historico underwent a complete overhall with new paint, sidewalks and underground cables. Soft lighting now enhances the Plazuela Machado and plaques have been affixed to history-rich buildings in Old Mazatlán. The Malecón was enlarged and beautified with benches and planters. According to recent reports in local papers, a municipal plan is in the works to erect a canvas fence to camouflage the crumbling Frankie-O structure on the Malecón. These innovations have made Mazatlán, from Valentino´s south, a worthwhile tourist destination.

But what about the Golden Zone, north from Valentino´s to the El Faro Hotel? It appears to be stuck in the 1980s. Yet this is the area where over 600,000 cruise ship passengers are deposited annually by tour companies. The first thing passengers see is the garbage-strewn effluent canal which runs from Av. Playa Gaviotas to the beach. Is this a good first impression of our beaches? Next are the broken sidewalks, the traffic congestion of plumonias and taxis blocking road lanes, utility poles in dangerous places, cars parked on sidewalks impeding pedestrian traffic, racing buses playing leapfrog, and horses on the street and beaches leaving manure deposits in their wake. The fence which lines the sidewalk north of the El Cid hotel is dangerous and an eyesore. It´s no surprise that the Golden Zone is losing tourists to the more eye-appealing Centro Historico.

It´s time for Golden Zone businesses to get serious about improving this area. A few have done so, and we applaud them, but it is not enough. Underground cables, removal of billboards, garish neon signs and sidewalk sandwich boards, enforced traffic regulations, unimpeded and resurfaced sidewalks, painted buildings, planters, benches, trees, public washrooms, better lighting, attractive beach access and clean beaches would all add to a tourist´s enjoyment of the Golden Zone. As a start, beginning February, Mayor Alejandro Higuera will enforce regulations whereby timeshare sellers in this zone must operate only from stationary booths, and rumor has it he is talking to cruise ship tour companies to straighten out the congestion their buses cause in the Golden Zone.

To better the Golden Zone, we need an independent committee of business and government people with innovative ideas and the determination to see the project through. In the 20 years I have lived in Mazatlán, two or three such committees have been formed only to be abandoned when special interests interfered or individual members strayed. Now that new condo projects are springing up in the area, one suggestion is to charge new developers half per cent of their building costs for beautification of the area, and a decree that they must provide ample off-street parking for owners & guests.

The skyline of the Golden Zone is changing. Golden Zone businesses, due to their concentrated numbers, pay more government taxes than any other tourist area in Mazatlán. We must put those taxes and our own resources to good use – to the future of business in the Golden Zone. The time to do it is now.

(Please send your suggestions to publisher@pacificpearl.com, or city hall at www.mazatlan.gob.mx/index.php (click on Servicios, then Atencion Ciudana)

Michael J. Veselik

Publisher