In a small town, everyone always seems to know what’s wrong — and how to fix it. The thousand conversations over coffee, in backyards, or in the grocery store parking lot are all unique but all the same. They’re greeted with head nods, grumbles of frustration. If only everyone else would listen! A thousand kings and queens looking for their subjects.
Which is why when several dozen area residents gathered at the Bowlus Fine Arts Center Monday evening to discuss the future of Allen County, the stakes seemed high. Here was a chance to get everyone pulling in the same direction.
Alex Holland, Atlas Community Studio’s vice president, and Clint Sloss, an economic development strategist with McClure, were in town to present their Allen County Placemaking Action Plan, the culmination of more than a year’s work. Thrive Allen County assisted the groups in gathering data and input.
Placemaking, if the term seems unfamiliar, refers to economic and social development, increasing population, growing tourism and improving the overall quality of life. It likely means simply making Allen County a better place to live.
The presentation focused on two key areas: housing and economic development. As the event progressed, it became clear that the challenges each presents — and opportunities to address them — are often intertwined.
After months of public input, focus groups, and interviews with county stakeholders, Holland began by sharing conclusions that only confirmed what most everyone in the room already knew. Most urgently, and perhaps also most apparent: Allen County is losing residents yet has hundreds of open jobs. And Allen County needs new and better-maintained homes, but most residents cannot afford them.
The numbers are stark. Allen County lost 6.9% of its population in the last decade. The two age groups that experienced the greatest loss, 25-34 and 45-54 year-olds, are in the prime of their working years and likely to be raising children.
Which leads to labor shortages. The manufacturing sector in Allen County has over 600 unfilled jobs alone. And according to data from Atlas, while only 160 residents are unemployed and not looking for work, there are a whopping 1,869 jobs available in Allen County.
But you can’t fill those positions if there’s nowhere for job seekers to live, or if they can’t afford available housing.
Median household income in Allen County is $45,333, 24% below state average. Atlas puts the cost of building a new home at around $104 per square foot; you’d have to earn at least $62,710 a year to afford it. Recent increases in wages are easily outpaced by the surging prices of construction.
What about renovating an older home? After all, 15% of housing units are vacant in Allen County, compared to 11.3% statewide. The problem is the age of our housing stock; 43% of homes were built prior to 1959. And, as Clint Sloss pointed out, “for every great, well-maintained mid-century home, there are about 10 that are not.”
Homes built after 2000 account for only 7.7% of all housing in the county, compared to 15% statewide. Just five new homes have been built in Iola in the last six years, according to Code Enforcement Office Gregg Hutton, with the most recent home finished in 2020. A modular home was moved into Humboldt last month, and a foundation for a new home there was just poured at Sycamore and 11th.
Yet it must be said that most of this is old hat. The information shared on Monday was another verse to the same tune. Pleas for affordable housing, higher wages and more childcare options have only grown louder since the pandemic. And while these problems aren’t unique to Allen County — rural communities across America face a decidedly uncertain future — the question becomes: what will we do to make our future different?
SOLUTIONS are out there.
Regarding housing, Sloss recommended the county establish an annual tax sale to recover unpaid taxes on properties. Allen County’s last tax sale was in March 2018, but plans are currently underway to file for a new one in the near future, according to county counselor Bob Johnson. Around 80 properties are currently eligible for tax foreclosure. Property owners must have an unpaid property tax at least three years old before the county can act.
