{"id":11208,"date":"2020-05-07T15:11:22","date_gmt":"2020-05-07T19:11:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/umaine.edu\/undiscoveredmaine\/?page_id=11208"},"modified":"2020-09-11T14:31:34","modified_gmt":"2020-09-11T18:31:34","slug":"presque-isle-and-an-interview-with-trey-stewart","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/umaine.edu\/undiscoveredmaine\/aroostook-county-maine\/central-aroostook\/presque-isle\/presque-isle-and-an-interview-with-trey-stewart\/","title":{"rendered":"Presque Isle and an interview with Trey Stewart"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u00a0 More Millennial’s moving to small towns for a better quality of life<\/b><\/p>\n

A modern millennial perspective from Trey Stewart<\/strong><\/p>\n

As Millennial’s are starting families, they are discovering that priorities are changing. With children, their desire to settle down and find a better quality of life that is affordable and safe continues to grow. In addition, some recent federal data shows “millennials are struggling financially. As Federal Reserve researchers wrote in a 2018 paper, “Millennials are less well off than members of earlier generations when they were young, with lower earnings, fewer assets, and less wealth.”v. How can they attain a better quality of life with these challenges? \"\"<\/p>\n

A recent article[i]<\/a> in Public Broadcasting said, \u201cA 2018 Gallup poll found that, while 80 percent of all Americans live in urban areas, rural life is most desired. All this is fueling migration to\u201d smaller cities and small towns.\u00a0 One Millennial mom explained, \u201cI live five minutes from here. My day care is five minutes from here. So I can run out of here at 5:20. I can pick up my kids and go home for dinner and be home at 5:35. And I know my good friends that live in Seattle that, logistically, is so much more challenging. So, I think the quality of life here is just \u2014 it’s just easier.\u201d Sky-high home prices in larger cities also prevent young millennial families from living the American dream. Also, wouldn’t a young family love to find a nice house in a small town with land for the kids to play for $150,000 instead of $850,000 in the greater New York or Washington DC areas?<\/p>\n

\"House<\/p>\n

Thus, we are starting to see a resurgence of people recognizing the value of small town life in America. In this article, we explore the values, qualities and experiences that make small town living desirable and why people might consider moving to a small town. We also had the opportunity to talk with an emerging star; a millennial leader, who shared his experiences growing up in the small Maine town of Presque Isle, northern Maine and how that shaped his career and success.<\/p>\n

The Beginning<\/strong><\/p>\n

We can look at history to explain the root causes of migration. It was 400 years ago<\/p>\n

\"Pilgrim<\/p>\n

when the Pilgrims made the perilous voyage from England to the new world to seek a better life and it has continued ever since. When you read about the Pilgrims (or exiles as some call them), their major motivation for risking the dangerous trip across the ocean was a better life for their children.<\/p>\n

In American culture, most people still believe that the small town represents the heart and soul of our country; where \u201ceveryone knows your name and has your back\u201d.\u00a0 A perfect example is the small town of Presque Isle in northern Maine, population, about 9000. It is easier to understand what makes small towns great if you understand a little about the history and the people who settled them.<\/p>\n

\"Presque
Thank you Jeff Clark<\/span>Presque Isle drug store 1800s<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

According to Kimberly R. Sebold, Ph.D.[1], \u201cthe area that is now Presque Isle received its first settlers in 1819.\u00a0 Aroostook County was officially established in 1839. She also writes, \u201cHarsh climate, boundary disputes, and isolation from markets deepened the frontier experience of settlers in northern Maine. Despite these trials, settlers continued to come to the area so that by 1859, the state legislature agreed to the incorporation of Presque Isle as a town.\u201d<\/p>\n

Julia Bailey[1] wrote, \u201cThe city started out on April 4, 1859, as Fairbanks in honor of founder Dennis Fairbanks. The name later changed to Presque Isle in recognition of its geographic location between the Aroostook River and Presque Isle Stream. In French, Presque Isle means \u201calmost an Island.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Presque<\/p>\n

Life on the northern frontier was hard with bitter cold winters, few roads, neighbors miles apart, floods, and survival living. The ancestors of Aroostook County citizens were extremely tough, independent and resilient. However, they worked hard and persevered to build a better life, developing strong communities with a high quality of life, good education, safety and security, where neighbors help neighbors to build a better life for their families. We would say that this represents the American dream.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/strong>Economic Decline of Small Towns:<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"Presque<\/p>\n

Northern Maine was booming with the logging industry and paper mills, a large, vibrant Air force base, and the potato industry.\u00a0 However, in the 1960\u2019s, the government closed the base. Then, many of the paper mills closed, and there was increased competition in the agricultural sector. Small towns suffered with many of its young people leaving for jobs in cities inside and outside of Maine. This led to a continuing decline in population and some deterioration of the small towns.<\/p>\n

\"OutSome say that small towns are doomed to decline since many young people leave home for larger cities and more perceived opportunities. In addition, the decline becomes more severe when existing service or even manufacturing businesses cannot find skilled, qualified workers to keep them going.\u00a0 However, the Covid-19 pandemic is changing the way people live and work, resulting in potential new opportunities for small towns and Millennials.<\/p>\n

This trends is even more severe in northern New England. Sullivan with the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston wrote, “Among the populations of all US states, those of Maine, New Hampshire, and Vermont have the top-three highest median ages, respectively. The situation is even more extreme in northern New England\u2019s rural counties, where the populations of the smallest towns generally are substantially older than those of the rest of the region. These communities also have seen the slowest, or even negative, population growth over the last three decades. As the populations of the rural regions become older and smaller, policymakers are concerned about the ability of the local communities to maintain their labor force, sustain local businesses and the tax base, and provide care for the growing number of senior residents. ” vi.<\/p>\n

New Opportunities:<\/strong><\/p>\n

America is changing in many ways, with digital transformation, a new service economy and the opportunity for increased tourism, small businesses\/ entrepreneurs, and even manufacturing.<\/p>\n

\"Presque
Presque Isle riverside concert<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

A recent Dow Jones article[ii]<\/a> explored the ways that small towns are trying to reinvent themselves. One major lesson learned was not to become overly dependent on just one industry such as the paper mills. In contrast, many are trying to diversify their economies. One strategy has been to bring in smaller businesses such as a data processing firm or a call center.\u00a0 An economic development person stated that he is trying to bring in 10 businesses that hire 50 people instead of one business that hires 500.<\/p>\n

However, another interesting trend shown in a Wall Street Journal article[iii]<\/a>, revealed that for the past 4 years, thousands of Millennials have been leaving cities for small town life. Surveys of these people show that they move for a better quality of life, lower cost of living and the desire to raise their family in a safe place with good education.\u00a0 The digital transformation of the country has led to many freelancers, who can work from anywhere.\u00a0 In addition, an interesting and<\/p>\n

\"Houseperhaps unexpected consequence of the Covid-19 pandemic has shown that many people can work from home , and thus, from anywhere that has a decent internet connection, enabling this new resettling of small towns. This was reinforced by an article in the Bangor Daily News [vii] which said, “most of the interest is coming from people in the eastern U.S., specifically New York, New Jersey, Boston, Detroit and parts of Florida. In many cases, those people have some form of connection to the state, whether it\u2019s a direct connection such as having grown up in Maine or having relatives here, or a more indirect one such as having been on a vacation to the state once or twice.” “Why live in an expensive apartment in New York when you could live in Maine and spend a much smaller fraction of your income on housing for more space and land?” “we may end up seeing the rise of telecommuting being a permanent change in how people work.”<\/p>\n

Small town life offers a quality of life not available in the cities. Buying a home still represents the American dream. Currently, the median price of a home in the greater Boston area is $645,000, $652,000 in NYC\/ suburbs, $344,000 in Portland, Maine, and $115,000 in Presque Isle, Maine. (source Zillow.com)<\/p>\n

Jonathan West[iv]<\/a> says that other reasons millennial’s are moving to small towns include:<\/p>\n

\"Presque
Presque Isle water park<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n