Housing, child care, and nightlife are top concerns for young Lakes Region adults

MEREDITH — If the Lakes Region is going to become more attractive to young people looking for a place to begin their adult lives, it will need to offer more affordable housing, more affordable child care and increase the amount of year-round activities that would appeal to people in their 20s and 30s.

That was the takeaway from a recent event staged by Stay Work Play New Hampshire, a nonprofit aimed at reversing the statewide demographic trend toward older residents. To help inform their lobbying efforts, the organization is in the middle of a series of forums, titled “Policy and Pints,” including one held recently at Twin Barns Brewing Company in Meredith.

Will Stewart, executive director of Stay Work Play, said that 36 people, age 21 to 40, attended the event, and, after getting a free beer, he asked the crowd to describe what they liked about life in New Hampshire. The responses described a place with natural beauty and outdoor recreation opportunities, a slower pace of life, a great place to raise a family, and a small-town feel where people felt connected to their community.

The reality, however, is that many people who grow up in New Hampshire choose to leave after they graduate from high school. Those assembled in Meredith said forces that cause their peers to live elsewhere include a mix of economic factors – such as the cost of living and job opportunities – and social factors like things to do after dark, especially in the winter.

After the list was completed, attendees were asked to vote on the issues that were most concerning to them, and the three most pressing concerns were child care, housing and things to do.

“This information will be used to help inform Stay Work Play’s nonpartisan, issues-based advocacy program in 2020, as well as be shared with policymakers, planners and economic professionals in the Lakes Region,” Stewart said.

Stay Work Play has a challenging problem. Based on its own figures, only four out of every 10 New Hampshire high school graduates stay in-state for college. Of the people who attend a New Hampshire college, only half of those stay in the state after they graduate.

However, there’s reason to believe that New Hampshire can see more young people choose to become Granite Staters. UNH’s Carsey Institute found that, while the state lost more people in their 20s than it gained from 2008-12, in the four years that followed the state saw a net increase in migration for people in their 20s and 30s. The biggest spike in net migration was for people younger than 20, representing a trend of young families moving into the state.

Meanwhile, the Carsey Institute also found that the state has been experiencing a modest net outflow of people at the other end of the age spectrum, those 50 and older.

Stewart said that Stay Work Play has been working to support legislation that might help tip the scales in favor of younger people. Recent policy successes include the passage of bills that have addressed housing affordability and student debt, promoted outdoor recreation and have made it easier for young people to serve in public office.

Carly Howie, a real estate agent who lives in Meredith, was one of those in attendance. She and her husband are  examples of “boomerangs,” people who grew up in New Hampshire, left for a few years, and came back home. Howie said she and her husband are graduates of Inter-Lakes High School, traveled south for college and military service, and decided to move back home so they could raise their children near their parents.

Yet she acknowledges they’re the exception. Most of their classmates left and haven’t come back, she said.

“I think there’s a lot of good things going for (the Lakes Region),” Howie said. She particularly likes the sense of community involvement, “building that village in this local area so that people have that support that they need.”

There are also challenges, she noted, such as the fact that she drives to Holderness every day so her four-year-old can go to a high-quality preschool. And in her line of work she sees every day the challenges that young families have when they try to move to the Lakes Region. “We work with a lot of first-time homebuyers,” she said, and her clients can become frustrated with few options in a market that’s geared toward people shopping for a vacation home.

As far as nightlife, Howie and her friends decided to take matters into their own hands, starting a Facebook group called the “Lady Boss Network.” They throw social events that also serve to promote local female entrepreneurs, such as a holiday pop-up event scheduled from 5:30-7:30 p.m. at the Belknap Mill on Dec. 12.

“I think that’s something that we could change ourselves,” Howie said.