Gaining and Maintaining Young People in Wisconsin Communities

Summary

There is concern across Wisconsin and the nation that young people are leaving rural areas and small towns for more urban areas. This research explored whether there may be exceptions to those trends—smaller and more rural places that were gaining and maintaining young adults.

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From fall of 2015 to summer of 2016 we did demographic research that studied all Wisconsin municipalities (cities, villages, and towns) to identify communities gaining and maintaining young adult populations.
- We measured gaining by looking at the absolute number of people aged 20-39, in five year cohorts, for census years 1990, 2000, and 2010.
- We measured maintaining by looking at the proportional size of the young adult population, on average, across those census years.
From fall of 2016 to summer of 2017 we conducted interviews in twelve case study communities that were gaining and maintaining young adults, representing all regions of the state, to learn why people thought young adult populations were stronger in those places.
- We interviewed 210 people.
- The interviews averaged an hour.

The demographic research yielded three important findings:
- Only about 15% of Wisconsin communities are gaining and maintaining young adults.
- Communities in Wisconsin's most urban area—Milwaukee county—fare as bad or worse than many rural areas in losing young adults.
- Communities that are gaining and maintaining young adults are much more likely to be near cities and freeways.
The case study research yielded five important qualities of communities that are important for attracting young adults:
- Perceived quality of schools.
- Perceived appropriate affordability of housing—young adults at different life stages may define affordability differently.
- Outdoor amenities such as parks and trails, with appreciation for both motorized and silent (skiing, hiking, etc.) outdoor recreation.
- A small town sense of community and civic engagement.
- Proximity to cities that offfered employment, entertainment, and shopping.

Maintaining high quality schools is essential for attracting and maintaining young adult populations.
Different communities need to provide different mixes of housing for different families at different life cycle stages.
Public outdoor amenities for a diversity of recreation activities will be valued by young adults.
Rural and small town development may be tied together with urban development.
Communities need to address the tensions created by the need for volunteerism to maintain the small town feel, while people spend large amounts of time in cities for jobs, entertainment, and shopping.
Universities and colleges may influence not just their home city, but also the region as a place for graduates to settle.

Research Team

The research team for this project included a variety of talent. The principal investigator for this project is an expert on community studies, and the co-principal investigator is an expert on demographic studies. We received funding from a United States Department of Agriculture Hatch Grant that supported two graduate student research assistant positions. In the first year it supported one research assistant doing demographic research and another doing qualitative research. That year we also were able to add support from a State of Wisconsin research assistantship that funded one other research assistant to expand the demographic research to urban as well as rural areas. The demographic research assistants received professional and technical support from the University of Wisconsin-Madison's Applied Population Laboratory.

The second year of the project we had two qualitative research assistants that focused on conducting twelve community case studies. They were joined by a University of Wisconsin Extension educator for three of the case studies, and by a third graduate student for two case studies. The entire project was overseen by the Engaging Young People to Sustain Communities, Families, and Farms team of the University of Wisconsin Extension. All of those directly involved in the research project are listed on the title page.

Randy Stoecker, Principal Investigator, University of Wisconsin-Madison
Katherine Curtis, Co-Principal Investigator, University of Wisconsin-Madison
Matt Calvert, University of Wisconsin Extension Co-Principal Investigator
Allyson Watson, University of Wisconsin Extension Co-Principal Investigator
Elisa Avila, Graduate Student Case Study Researcher
Todd Flournoy, Graduate Student Demographic Researcher
Amanda Hoffman, Graduate Student Case Study Researcher
Sheamus Johnson, Graduate Student Case Study Researchers
Liangfei Ye, Graduate Student Demographic Researcher
Dan Veroff, Applied Population Lab, University of Wisconsin-Madison
David Long, Applied Population Lab, University of Wisconsin-Madison
Rozalynn Klaas, Applied Population Lab, University of Wisconsin-Madison

Thank You

We are very grateful to the 210 residents across the state who gave of their time to tell us about their communities, and we hope this research honors what they told us. We are also grateful to University of Wisconsin Extension educators who helped guide this research, identify and choose case study communities, form core groups, and recommend research participants. We thank our core group participants in each of our 12 case study communities who helped guide the research, comment on the findings, and recommend research participants. And we extend our appreciation to Caitlin Bourbeau and Casey Kalman for the web design.

This research was supported by United Stated Department of Agriculture Hatch grant Hatch-WIS01872, and a State of Wisconsin State RAship.

Gaining and Maintaining Young People in Wisconsin Communities

Summary

Methods

Findings

Implications

Research Team

Thank You

Gaining and Maintaining Young People
in Wisconsin Communities