Residents credit the new ban on alcohol on the sand for the absence of truckloads of litter on San Diego's beaches the morning after the Fourth of July.
After years of rising property values that made land at the Beaches some of the most valuable in the county, 2008 tax estimates show taxable land values declining or barely breaking even.
In Door County, Wis., some million-dollar beach homes are languishing on the market, likely because of cladophora, the foul green slime collecting on the edge of waterfront yards.
In Port Aransas, they're expecting several thousand extra visitors over this holiday weekend. And yes, there will be more law enforcement as well to patrol the beaches.
Parking spots near San Diego beaches were nearly impossible to find, and major thoroughfares began to look like parking lots, as people streamed to the coastline to celebrate Independence Day.
