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10/31/2003 Archived Entry: "THIS ISN'T HARD TO FIGURE OUT"

THIS ISN'T HARD TO FIGURE OUT

Here's something to think about.

Most people who've lived in one place for a number of years have done so because they like where they live. We think our town is the very best place in the world to live. I think that and I believe many others who live here would agree.

Some individuals are trying to convince others they are mistaken not to love our town just as much as we do and more than the one they have chosen to live in. We love it so why shouldn't you?, they ask.

The thing is, as the people who have researched these issues for years maintain, everyone thinks the town they live in is the best, better than ours, better than yours, better than any other. We who live here think that. The people in Lindsborg think their community is best. The people in Geneseo, Wilson, Hollyrood and Lorraine think theirs are the best communities in which to live. We are all possessive of the towns in which we live. People don't change loyalties easily and they are not inclined to relocate without good reason....especially if they are employed.

Some of the people at the prison have worked there ten years and commuted from elsewhere...Salina or wherever. The same goes with the employees at Cashco. Some of them have been commuting for 20 years, many of them to and from Salina every single work day. When they built the Maico plant, how many of those new employees chose to relocate and live here?

We have people living here who commute to Salina every single day...not just the husband or wife, but both commute. It would be easier for them if they moved to Salina, but they don't choose to do that. I assume they could afford to buy a house and live there and save on the cost of commuting, which is significant, but they choose to live here instead. Now don't you think if these people were unhappy commuting to work every day, they would have moved closer to their work years ago? Just because we choose to live here, that doesn't mean it will be the choice of others. I don't think this is a complex issue to understand.

People aren't going to be lured with free land, free hookups or free anything else. Certainly they don't want to leave where they are unless the situation here is a whole lot better or other reasons come into play. There are plenty of houses in town already on the market...too many, in fact, according to the people trying to sell their homes. Those who chose to come here and live are able to find housing. Anyone who has lived here long enough to have observed this will tell you this is so.

I can almost guarandamntee you that if a new plant came here tomorrow and we had "affordable" housing for all of them, a large percentage of them, maybe most of them, would choose to live somewhere other than here. That choice has nothing to do with housing. It has to do with preferences...personal preferences.

There is more to this thought and who to target to move here, but that involves economic development which this isn't. This is housing, pure and simple. Economic development is an entirely different concept. I wonder how many times I've said this? Fortunately, I'm not the only one who believes this is true.