I agree with Chicken.
I moved here from Houston, where for such a large city, there isn't a whole lot of attractions yet people still visited. Here we have the beach, a new water park, USS Lexington, an up and coming Aquarium, fishing/hunting paradise, a college with 10,000+ students, and plenty of targeted events (Spring Break, Beach 2 Bay, Dia de los Muertos, etc). In my opinion, all it is really missing is a nice downtown to tie it all together. Destination Bayfront was that idea. Every City Council person running in this election who did not support DB, did not get my vote.
The folks, like B-1, are old. will not be here long and people with great positive ideas not influenced by events that happened over 30 years ago will turn this city. Good news is, it is already going in the right direction... took years, but Schlitterbahn is being built, downtown is erecting apartments and amenities. Soon you will realize the city can and will prosper from tourism $$$ that will fix your streets that B1 is so fixated on.