During October, arguably the most popular – and crowded – place to visit is Salem, Massachusetts. Salem is infamous for the Salem Witch Trials in the 1600s, and thousands of tourists travel from near and far each fall to fulfill their spooky fantasies and catch a glimpse of the history. Being born in Salem and living there my entire life, I have to admit that I do enjoy telling people I’m from Salem and watching their faces immediately light up as they jokingly ask if I’m a witch. I understand why Salem is attractive to outsiders, and it definitely has a lot of interesting, historical aspects to it, but as someone who grew up their entire lives living in Salem, I’m getting just a liiiiiittle sick of the tourists. No tea, no shade, but it’s really not that thrilling of a location.
The truth is, Salem is a very overcrowded and overpopulated place to begin with. There’s way too many people packed into a small city year-round, so October only adds to that with all the tourists (who don’t know how to drive in Salem…) It’s nearly impossible for actual residents to drive around during this time and get to their jobs due to the overwhelming amount of traffic. In addition, Salem is only “spooky” in the downtown area. That’s where all the tourist attractions and fun events take place. The rest of Salem is unfortunately not as shiny and exciting.
Salem is actually a poor city that’s been negatively affected by overcrowding and a lot of its residents are struggling financially. The school system is terrible and students are deprived of a quality education. Crime rates are higher in Salem than in other cities, and a lot of families are struggling to make ends meet. Salem has been glorified and overhyped due to its history and Halloween gimmicks, but as someone who has lived there my entire life, it’s slightly annoying to see clueless tourists visiting. They all get to return to their richer towns after coming to mine just for the experience, but we don’t have that same luxury. In Salem, we’ve also seen a lot of rich outsiders move in with intentions of gentrifying Salem and making it more expensive to live in for residents who have been there for years.
Now, I’m not saying to never visit Salem. It’s a great city and I love it; it’s my home and it always will be. But, maybe visit the other parts of Salem while you’re here – not just the tourist attractions. Appreciate and respect Salem for all that it is. And hot tip, downtown Salem is always there. Spooky season is 24/7. You don’t need to visit in October just to enjoy the history of Salem. Come at any time of year. It’ll be way less busy, there’ll be less traffic, it’ll be less expensive, and you’re less likely to be honked at by an angry Salem resident (who’s probably me).