Thanks for all the insights into this question.  I think Dan's and others'
thinking about the "realness" of normal life in a historic environment have
cleared up why I feel uneasy about Savannah and St. Augustine.

Real businesses -- hardware stores, and other local retail -- are the common
denominator of many of the cities that successfully promote tourism and also
maintain a semblance of normal life. Large numbers of tourists may be there,
but the rhythm of normal life and commerce predominates.

I wonder again about cases like St. A & Sav. Maybe 20 years ago they were
backwaters -- no economic base, little industry, no real reason for being.
THEN they found "Heritage Tourism!," which breathed some life and cash into
their towns. Luckily, they discovered it before it was gone. Maybe this is
their only economic base, and they are happy to have it.

Cities like my own hometown region in upstate NY (Binghamton, Endicott,
Johnson City), was once a major center -- the shoe industry, IBM, county seat,
own newspaper -- now it is "the affordable housing capital of the Northeast."
Urban renewal blew away many of the historic blocks, vinyl siding is
everywhere, and blue collar families can't afford to fix up their houses
beyond the minimum to get through the winter. According to local residents,
there is a big battle to end one of their largest regional revenue streams
right now: drugs. I think the Triple Cities would LOVE to have some heritage
left that they could transform into an economic engine!

So, rather than me sounding like a snobby northern urban-suburanite, maybe
there is something to this  tourism thing that I still need to put into
perspective ....

Mary K