Reasons why young people
don’t want to live in Clear Creek
Editor:
The article last week concerning home-buying incentives to attract teachers and other workers to live in Clear Creek County sounds just like the promises made concerning building the high school on Floyd Hill.
“Build it and they will come,” we were told. This was referring to more highly qualified teachers with years of experience already under their belts. It’s only my opinion, but I don’t think Todd Lancaster, Peggy Stokstad or any other county official, including the county commissioners, know why employees who work up here don’t live up here. But I am reasonably certain there are no facts to reach the conclusion that housing is the problem.
In this day and age, commuting is a way of life everywhere for millions of workers. They want to live in a certain area, and that’s what they have chosen to do regardless of where they work. Look at the hundreds of employees working at the Henderson Mine. They make a good living and could afford most housing in this area, but most choose to live elsewhere.
Personally, I think a 30-minute drive from Idaho Springs to west Denver is pretty easy. It’s not much more than driving to the high school.
I have put together a list of possible reasons young people choose not to live here:
• The remote location of the middle/high school.
• Food shopping is not as desirable as in the Denver area.
• No health food stores.
• No movie theaters.
• No big-box stores.
• No clothing or shoe stores.
• No bowling alley or other indoor family entertainment.
• Lack of social gathering spots.
• Probably a higher cost of living.
Housing could possibly be a factor, but young new teachers have been coming to Clear Creek schools for decades. Some loved it here and had a good life here, and others didn’t like it and chose to take their one,
two, three or more years of teaching experience added to their resume and go somewhere else.
Those who stayed bought homes and became part of the community. They most likely started their lives on lower entrance income, just as teachers do now. They became good educators, turning out multitudes of excellent students who became successful, such as Todd Lancaster.
I believe the main reason is that times have changed. Commuting is not a deciding factor, and due to all of the above reasons, no one will move here unless they like a small-town community, and it’s not for everyone.
If government chooses to give housing incentives to workers so they will live here, it will do nothing more than cost the taxpayers money in adding additional equity to a house that will be on the market the moment those workers’ contracts expire, and they will be gone to where they really want to live with their newly acquired experience.
Ralph Shepherd
Idaho Springs