It’s impossible to know precisely what younger adults make of our town and their place in it, but the mayor’s “40 and Under Survey” conducted in February provides a pretty good idea.
So as to not sway the results, the survey presented three open-ended questions: 1) Why are you here? 2) What do you need to succeed here? and 3) What is your dream for Haines?
Predictably, some young adults are here because they were born here and some only dream of better restaurant options. But most of the 84 people who chose to complete the survey had something they wanted to say. Most responses were thoughtful and many were pointed.
The most-cited need, cited by 39 respondents, was affordable housing.
“I would like to see the zoning changed to allow more single residential lots to build multiple dwellings to help the housing crisis,” wrote Jimmy Thomsen.
“We tried to buy a house this summer and kept getting outbid by people from outside Haines who were buying vacation homes and had no intention of living here,” wrote Naomi Moritz.
“We need more housing, decent housing that doesn’t cost an arm and a leg,” said Teslin Whitby.
“I can’t imagine buying a home or renting in town right now,” wrote Sarah Elliott.
“Housing is a huge problem, paying high dollar for slumlord apartments,” said Jordan Frost. Shannon Stevens said, “We have way too many houses sitting unoccupied and not enough housing for rent.”
Other responses included “better rentals,” “more affordable rent” and “better mortgage rates.”
Not surprisingly, the second-highest need was better jobs and an improved economy, cited by 35 respondents.
To succeed, younger adults need “jobs that pay us enough to live here,” said Aly Zeiger. Michelle Strohecker said to succeed she needed “employment opportunities with living wages ($25+).” “It’s incredibly difficult to live in Haines on a single income,” wrote Sarah, who didn’t provide her surname.
The need for daycare came in a close third for most-cited, with 32 respondents identifying that as a need.
Forest Podsiki wrote in all capitals, “CHILD CARE NOW.” He said, “If you wanted a year-round workforce, provide daycare and preschool for families of young children. I am lucky enough to have child care for my young kids, but not all the time and there are plenty of young adults who can’t work because of lack of affordable childcare.”
Several of the other 32 child-care respondents cited the high cost of care.
Interestingly, the next most-often mentioned need was for our town to be more tolerant and inclusive.
“This town gives plenty of space for hatred and bigotry. That needs to change,” wrote Jacob Reinoehl.
Jackie St. Clair’s dream for Haines included “that all community members feel safe to express their true selves.” Henry Leasia’s dream was for a community “that is accepting and supportive of all of its residents.”
Several others cited intolerance in Haines toward LGBTQ residents.
Notching 18 responses were comments aimed at local government, most of them critical.
“The constant small-town drama that also corrupts our borough assembly is another turn-off to this town,” wrote Trygve Bakke. Merrick Bochart’s dream for Haines includes “that the borough assembly becomes less soul-crushing so that many more middle-of-the-road people are willing to run.”
Chase Belcher would like to see “local politics that don’t scare people away from our area.” Kris Wuesthoff’s dream is for “political moderation” and Zack Hawks said, “The fact that there are (assembly) members verbally assaulting each other is insane.”
Notably, many respondents expressed the want or need for more young families to move to Haines, an expression of generational camaraderie.
Click here to see the full “40 and Under Survey”