HOLLYWOOD HILLS—For some residents of the affluent Hollywood Hills, the upturn of this recession has had unexpected consequences: a steep rise in traffic and road noise from tour buses.
While gridlock traffic and resultant frustration are nothing new for Angelenos, many residents of the Hollywood Hills say that the problem has worsened in the past few months. They cite the increased presence of Hollywood tour buses — namely, those that show visitors the past and current properties of the region’s umpteen celebrity homeowners — as the root of the problem.
The local tourism industry has indeed rebounded since the nadir of the recession in 2008. According to analysis by CIC research, San Diego based firm, the number of overnight visitors to L.A. jumped eight percent from 2009 to 2010, from 23 million to 25 million.
In the same period, the tourism industry witnessed a 10 percent increase in business up to $13 billion, a figure still well below the $14 billion the industry brought in for 2007, the year before the recession’s impact was first felt across the country.
Locals are vocal in their frustration. Several Hollywood Hills homeowners reportedly met with independent tour bus operators in July 2010 to suggest that the companies make changes such as switching from loudspeaker systems to headsets for their passengers.
Those changes, implemented by companies like LA City Tours at a cost of up to $2,000, have had limited success as passengers are prone to taking their headsets with them off the bus.
