The Bittersweet Past: Who Is Rome for?

In cities like Rome, tourists are part of the city's identity, its reality, its way of life. When they go away—and don't come back—the city will inevitably change and adapt. Will the countless AirBNBs turn back into regular rentals, and will that in turn cause locals to move back to the historic center? Will the souvenir shops that have crowded out the artisanal workshops close their doors? Will restaurants that once hawked mediocre fare to tourists be forced to raise their standards in order to lure Romans to dine?

On this episode from our archives, we hypothesize about what's in store for Rome in the post-Covid age, at least until the tourists return en masse. And we also muse upon the question: who is Rome for—at least, the historic center? With so few locals living and working in the center, has it become a kind of "Disneyland" for tourists, and will the sudden lack of tourists change that?

(Now that we are several years past Covid and Rome's tourists have returned two- or three-fold, I wonder if our predictions from this years-old episode will hold up! Find out by listening in.)

***The Bittersweet Life podcast has been on the air for an impressive 10+ years! In order to help newer listeners discover some of our earlier episodes, every Friday we are now airing an episode from our vast archives! Enjoy!***

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