I heard some interesting news today while talking to an area resident about our wish that more of our local high school graduates would move back to the area after going off to college or vo-tech.
She said there was a good chance that her son and daughter-in-law might be moving back to the county soon. They’re both from the area.
This news isn’t that unusual, but the fact that her daughter-in-law wants to move back, in my opinion, makes the situation unique. You see, her daughter-in-law is probably one of the smartest students to graduate from one of our local high schools in the last decade at least. She received all sorts of acclaim both while in high school and also on the university level for original research in a scientific field (stuff I couldn’t even begin to understand.)
Honestly, when I received their engagement notice for the Washington County News a while ago, I remember thinking, “they’ll never be back.” I guess I became accustomed to our best and brightest students, especially those who went to college in the field of science, to leave after high school and never return. This was a typical case of “brain drain” from rural Kansas. With this particular couple, both looked like they had very bright futures ahead of them in some amazing career… somewhere else.
But now, the fact that they’re even considering returning is just blowing me away. Could I be wrong that the current trend of depopulation will likely continue?
Whether this couple actually returns to the area or not is not as important to this trend as the fact that these sorts of people are even thinking about it and wanting to return. And the kicker is that she would like to have a family and be a stay-at-home mom. Again, not a stereotypical (and I know I’m stereotyping) life choice by someone with her academic prowess.
As I continue to sit here in disbelief about this news, a part of me still holds out hope that there will be a time in my lifetime, and possibly soon, when young folks do start moving back to Washington County after college or vo-tech. And not just someone here and there – I’m talking a significant portion of our local graduates starting a new trend of returning to their small town roots. And as they start new businesses, or help existing businesses grow, other folks who have no connection to the area will move here for the jobs that were created as a result of the graduates returning.
Honestly, we do have a pretty good situation here (as compared to many rural counties in Western Kansas.) Washington County is within an hour and a half drive from the cities of Manhattan, Salina and Lincoln, Neb., and all of the leisure, recreation and entertainment options those cities provide (things that appeal to young folks).
When you add that to the safety of small town life, the fantastic educational opportunities in both public and parochial setting, the fact that you know everyone and everyone can help watch over your kids, the lack of traffic jams, the calm pace of life, the stars at night and wide open vistas… and there is something to be said for having some history in an area (my kids are eighth generation Washington Countian through my wife’s family line) and a sense of place… you just can’t beat life here.
What do you think? Are we going to see a trend of local grads return to Washington County? Is there something we’re still missing that we have to achieve before we can see a trend of population increase? Or are the stories of returning grads just a blip in a declining trend that will continue? I want to hear what you think.
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3 comments:
Unfortunately, I think the population of this county will continue to decline. It would be interesting to know the ratio of deaths per year in this county versus births and people leaving to go to the metro areas. I would love to see more people move back after they graduate from college, trade schools, etc., but there's not a lot of jobs available around here that pay enough for people to be able to move back here. Especially if you have a family to support. The small businesses have a hard enough time making it and supporting their own families. I'm sure it's hard to offer all of the benefits (especially health insurance) that bigger companies in the cities offer their employees. Anyway, we both graduated from schools in the county and moved back here after our oldest was about a year old so she could be raised in the same environment we were raised in. Yes, I do miss the city sometimes and all it has to offer, but you sure can't beat the sense of community our county offers (OK, I could do without the consolidation bickering, etc.!)
I have had the same convo's with some of my friends who wanted to get out of the small town life and was headed for the cities, but after the hour and half drives to go 25 miles to work, constant hustle of the city life, they too are looking to move back to rual kansas. If you think about it, you could live in the big city and drive bumper to bumper every day for an hour and a half or hit the open road for an hour that gets you to Manhattan from here. Heck the south side of Lincoln NE is like hour and half from Washington. Look at all the possibilities within one hour of driving. When we would go to KC to visit friends, it was a must all the guys would go to Cabela's. It was 45 min one way to get there, but we where in KC so you didn't think about it, it was just down the street. You might have to drive more miles to work but the time table is about the same.
Plus we are seeing the trend change where women are prefering to stay home and take care of their children and raise them. The cost of living in Rual kansas allows us to do this. Young families are seeing the oppurtunities to come back and raise their kids with the morals and values of rual kansas folks.
The trend will change, we just don't know when. Just like you said Dan, we have so much so offer here.
Has Washington considered a wind farm? It seems like we should do a study to determine the potential, costs, etc.
Please encourage local leaders to read the book "The World is Flat" by Thomas Friedman. Computers have opened a whole new world of opportunities for rural areas. If moms in Utah can act as reservation agents for a major airline and folks in India are doing billing for Doctors in the U.S., there are opportinities for people in Washington County. We just have to think outside the box.
And last, thank-you Dan for this blog site. It is excellent and you have done an EXCELLENT job with the paper. My family moved away from Washington more than forty years ago but I still love the place. But if we're going to reverse the out-migration, we've got to get innovative. Attracting businesses for employment is a nice thought but that alone won't save the Town. Thank-you.
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