Around this time every summer, Montague and Whitehall begin to feel a little more crowded.
A stop at one of the three lights in town might take an extra cycle to get through. Restaurants have fewer open tables. Parking lots fill up faster. The beaches, boat launches, bike trails, and downtown sidewalks all seem to carry a little more traffic. Fireworks and late-night noise pick up. The pace changes.
And, if we are being honest, some of the locals begin to get a little grouchy.
That reaction is understandable. Those of us who live here year-round know the rhythm of this community. We know what it feels like in January, when the streets are quieter, the restaurants are easier to get into, and a trip across town takes only a few minutes. We know the difference between our everyday community and our summer community.
But the summer crowd is also a reminder of something important.
People want to be here.
They choose Montague and Whitehall. They choose White Lake. They choose our beaches, trails, restaurants, shops, parks, marinas, festivals, concerts, cottages, campgrounds, and small-town charm. They spend their vacation time here. They spend their money here. They bring their families here. They build memories here.
That matters more than we sometimes remember when we are waiting through that second light cycle.
Tourism is not just a seasonal inconvenience. It is one of the economic engines that helps keep small lakeshore communities alive.
According to 2024 tourism impact data, visitors spent $409.4 million in Muskegon County. That money moved through lodging, restaurants, retail shops, transportation, recreation, entertainment, and other local services. It also generated $49.2 million in state and local tax revenue and supported nearly 5,000 jobs across the county.
Those numbers are not abstract. They show up in real places.
They show up when a local restaurant has enough summer business to make it through the slower months. They show up when a small shop can hire extra help. They show up when a marina, campground, or lodging property fills its calendar. They show up when young people get their first job scooping ice cream, bussing tables, working retail, helping with rentals, or serving visitors. They show up when local contractors, cleaning companies, maintenance providers, landscapers, photographers, event workers, and service businesses benefit from the activity tourism creates.
Tourism money rarely stays in one place. A family comes into town, buys gas, grabs lunch, rents a kayak, shops downtown, stops for ice cream, attends an event, and stays overnight. Each of those stops supports a business. Each business supports employees. Those employees support families. Those businesses pay taxes, sponsor teams, donate to fundraisers, support local causes, and help create the kind of community we enjoy year-round.
The direct spending is easy to understand. The fringe benefits are sometimes easier to miss.
Tourism helps create amenities that locals get to enjoy long after visitors go home. The reason small communities like ours can support a richer mix of restaurants, shops, events, and recreational opportunities than our year-round population alone might sustain is because visitors help expand the customer base. In other words, some of what we love about living here exists because other people love visiting here.
Our trails are better used because of tourism. Our downtowns are more active because of tourism. Our lakefront identity is strengthened because of tourism. Our events have more energy because of tourism. Our businesses have more opportunity because of tourism.
Tourism also introduces people to the community in a deeper way. Many residents first discovered Montague or Whitehall as visitors. They came for a weekend, returned for a summer, bought a cottage, started a business, retired here, or decided this was where they wanted to raise a family. Tourism is often the first handshake between a community and its future residents, investors, volunteers, and supporters.
That does not mean tourism is without cost.
Crowds create pressure. Roads feel busier. Public spaces need more maintenance. Noise becomes more noticeable. Local workers are stretched. Service can slow down. Residents can feel like their quiet hometown has temporarily become someone else’s playground.
Those frustrations are real, and they should not be dismissed. A healthy tourism economy requires balance. Communities need to protect the quality of life for year-round residents while also welcoming the visitors who help sustain that quality of life. That means thoughtful planning, good signage, safe events, clean public spaces, respect for neighborhoods, support for local workers, and expectations that visitors treat the community well.
But it also requires something from us as locals.
It requires perspective.
The extra traffic is often connected to extra revenue. The full restaurant is often connected to jobs. The crowded trail is often connected to a stronger outdoor economy. The busy downtown is often connected to business survival. The family taking too long at the crosswalk may be experiencing our community for the first time, and that experience may shape how they talk about us for years.
We do not have to pretend every part of summer is easy. It is not. But we should remember that being a place people want to visit is a blessing many communities would love to have.
Montague and Whitehall are not just pass-through towns. We are destinations. That brings pressure, but it also brings opportunity.
The challenge is to hold both truths at the same time.
Yes, summer gets crowded.
Yes, locals sometimes get irritated.
Yes, the noise, traffic, and busyness can wear on people.
But those visitors also help fund our businesses, support our workers, strengthen our tax base, expand our amenities, and remind us that the place we call home is special enough for others to seek out.
So the next time it takes an extra light cycle to get through town, maybe we can take a breath.
That delay might be a little annoying.
It might also be a sign that our community still matters.
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