"Feckless Young Man" Story Symbolic Of Startling Change On Nantucket

Two speakers stand out from last year’s Town Meeting. The first was Liz Coffin with her very funny tale of the “feckless” young man who appeared on her couch one morning. The other was the historian, Nat Philbrick, who related how different today’s STR market is from the one of yore.

After laughing about the young man who was so drunk he landed on a stranger’s couch, I zeroed in on the message in this tale, namely that Union Street was so changed that it was no longer the wonderful Nantucket street that I used to walk when returning from downtown. It was populated with STR’s. I was shocked because I had no idea that such a transformation had taken place.

Then there was Nat Philbrick who knows a thing or two about Nantucket’s history. When STR promoters regale the community with heartfelt stories about mom-and-pop summer rentals, they fail to mention that these have been fueled by huge internet operations like Airbnb. No longer is the same family likely to return year after year for a two-week stay; rather, the STRs are often booked by bachelorette parties or those looking for a good time, like the fecklessyoung man.

Is this what Nantucket is being reduced to by the rapid expansion of STRs on the island? I realize that readers may be bored now by the constant refrain about Nantucket’s character and history, and how that legacy is being damaged by the pursuit of fast money. The land is fundamentally Nantucket’s wealth. Is Nantucket not a “commonwealth,” where all benefit from that wealth in some fashion? It would not be neighbor against neighbor if Nantucket were kept in mind. It would not be one neighbor benefiting financially at the expense of other neighbors looking for peace and quiet in their neighborhoods.

The lesson of the commons may have to be learned the hard way. As each takes advantage of Nantucket to seek financial gain, Nantucket as a home and a destination starts to lose its value. And then everyone loses.

Maureen Searle