Despite the dearth of rental properties, the high prices of homes and the lack of a public transportation system that gives workers a viable alternative to traveling inch-by-inch on the Long Island Expressway, local whippersnappers really do want to stay here.
According to an Associated Press story, a group of twentysomethings has started Stay on Long Island, a grassroots organization that hopes it can cull ideas from our young population about making this region a more attractive stopping place for college students entering the workforce.
From the story:
They’ve gotten financial backing from developer Gerald Wolkoff, who has been trying to get support for an affordable house project in Brentwood.
Economists have long sounded an alarm about the link between affordable housing and a “brain drain” on Long Island. Between 2000 and 2006, some 122-thousand people between the ages of 25 and 44 left Long Island. Economist Pearl Kamer says many are college graduates with needed skills. She says if employers can’t find workers they too will move away.
“Stay On Long Island” will have its first meeting on November 15th at the Brentwood campus of Suffolk Community College.
The group’s Web site features a survey section that asks whether young people are having trouble finding jobs after graduation, a letters section with a few ruminations on Long Island’s inhospitable conditions for graduates and a fledgling blog announcing the group’s creation.
One of the organization’s goals is to create a “Manhattan lifestyle” on Long Island. How can that be done? Any ideas?
LI Biz Blog will have to attend the group’s first meeting to find out.
[...] Stay On Long Island will hold its first general meeting Thursday, November 29 at 6:30 p.m. at the Brentwood campus of Suffolk Community College. More information about the group can be found on its Web site, stayonlongisland.com. [...]