Youth movement?
Young people compete with older, wealthier transplants for Flathead jobs
With practically limitless recreation opportunities, the Flathead Valley is an ideal playground for all generations.
One demographic, though, is finding it difficult to stay and play. While older people move in, find housing and work if they want, many people in their 20s can't find a way to live and work in the valley.
The difference is that older generations tend to have wealth - in experience and in the bank.
"I think the way the valley is, is the primary reason it's so hard for young people to work here," Joel Rosenberg said.
Rosenberg, 26, interviewed for a year and a half after school trying to get a job in the Flathead Valley or Missoula. He ended up moving to Portland, where he spent a year working in a bank.
He was able to gain the experience he needed to land a job with Valley Bank in Kalispell, but even then it wasn't easy - and his family owns the bank.
People in their 20s have to compete against older workers who are willing to take a pay cut and an entry-level position just to be here, he said.
BJ Grieve, 29, assistant director of the Flathead County Zoning and Planning Office, has witnessed the same thing. Many older people who come to the Flathead Valley are already established and have money in the bank.
"They leave California and sell their house and have all this money when they come here," he said. "A young person just starting out can't compete with that."
THAT'S NOT to say moving to the Flathead is impossible for people in their 20s.
It might take creativity, though. Like people who move to the area to retire, young people want to enjoy everything the valley has to offer.
"People always talk about how beautiful it is here," said Katie Boyes, 25, librarian at the Flathead County Library. "But you can't live off the beautiful scenery."
Jen Molloy, 29, has friends who work nights so they can play during the day.
"It requires certain changes in order to have a job," she said.
Molloy considers herself lucky. Her jobs at Flathead on the Move and the Center for Restorative Youth Justice allow her to be creative; she feels fulfilled while earning a salary. She also bought land "before everything got crazy up here."
"But people who can't make these first steps can't make it work," she said.
Those first steps are especially challenging for people fresh out of school who are learning how to function in the "real world."
"It's a huge adjustment," Grieve said. "You really learn what people have been telling you all along: the real world is a damn harsh place."
That's just as true in the Flathead Valley as it is elsewhere. Low wages make it especially difficult here, Boyes said.
Grieve agreed.
"There's no way you could afford to live here on $8 an hour," he said.
A LACK of jobs isn't the problem; local job services are flooded with requests from employers.
"There are so many jobs here," said Kate Downen, 26, manager of client services at Montana West Economic Development. "It's unbelievable."
Many of the available jobs, though, are in the service and trade industries. Some of them pay well, but many don't offer wages as high as a job requiring higher education, Grieve said.
And jobs in which college-educated people use their degrees are in short supply, he added. They're already filled; some have been filled for years.
"People just die in their positions," Boyes said. "I mean, not literally, but they're there for 30 years."
"People come here and never leave," Rosenberg agreed. "There's no turnover here."
The real problem is the combination of low wages and a lack of affordable housing, Grieve said. A friend of his couldn't find an apartment in the valley for less than $800 a month.
"When the housing market is hot, you should be able to get a cheap apartment," he said.
There are less expensive places to live, but $500 a month is not unusual for a one-bedroom apartment. It's a frustrating situation when young people without savings and with student loans have to put the bulk, if not all of their paychecks into simply getting by - especially if they're not even using their degrees.
"OK, so I'll take my college education and I'll work for
$10 an hour," Downen said. "And I can't buy a house and I feel like I can't contribute to the community."
MANY YOUNG people want to be active in the community. Rosenberg is an ambassador for the Kalispell Area Chamber of Commerce. Grieve got into planning because he wanted to help communities solve their own problems.
"The ability to work with an entire community, that's a huge reason to stay here," he said. "You really feel that you're making a difference."
But not enough young people are taking an active role, he said.
"At public meetings, there's usually no one my side of 40," he said.
Part of that is the nature of the job, Molloy pointed out. Many people their age simply aren't interested in those kinds of issues or community events.
"Would my friends be interested in this?" she asked. "If I twist their arm."
Downen nodded in agreement.
"They're like, 'It's not our scene,' " she said.
But Grieve believes young people need to make it their scene.
"In 10 to 20 years, we're the ones it'll be affecting," he said.
Boyes worries that if young people don't get out more, they won't be connected and won't be able to network and carry on when the older generation retires.
Rosenberg agrees.
"What happens when they leave?" he asked. "It's just frustrating. It's concerning when you think about the future, and it just can't continue on this way."
"That's the scary thing," Boyes said.
Despite the challenges, the Flathead Valley is a worthwhile place for young people to live, Rosenberg said.
"There are a million reasons why it's awesome here," he said. "There are just a couple of really crappy things."
Grieve agreed. He said if they lived in a large city, they'd be having the same conversation, just with different gripes.
"The bads are really bad," he said, "but there are enough goods to balance it out."
Reporter Kristi Albertson may be reached at 758-4438 or by e-mail at kalbertson@dailyinterlake.com