Published April 1, 2007 in the Hibbing Daily Tribune
On the Range, the term “young people” means those under 40 – including high school and college students, young professionals and families with small children. These folks are all lumped together because, demographically, the “average” Iron Ranger is a working middle aged person with older or adult children or a retiree. Whether you’re a 28-year-old lawyer with an engineer husband and two young kids, or a recent local tech college graduate looking for a job in the mines, you’re the people economic development types want to attract or retain.
The Twin Ports of Duluth and Superior, Wis., and the Iron Range have enjoyed a symbiotic historical relationship and are part of the same economic region. Though the two areas are not identical, they face similar challenges. That’s why I read with interest a March 25 AP story by Will Ashenmacher about a recent study relating to the attitudes of people who live in the Twin Ports area. The Duluth-Superior Area Community Foundation commissioned the study, whose findings were compiled by UMD instructor Drew Digby with cooperation from the Harvard University John F. Kennedy School of Government. Among the findings were that young people in the Twin Ports are “highly involved, yet feel alienated from their community.”
The study found that young people voted and participated in community service, but often felt a great sense of frustration. This is merely a quantification of something I hear from many of my friends (bear in mind, I happen to be one of these whipper-snappers), that effort spent to affect change or be creative often seems wasted in a place where tradition and parochialism often reign in the end.
The report’s authors say that part of the problem is that young people might not have an effective bearing on what it takes to be successful in civic engagement. I see that sometimes in young professionals who run for city council or school board offices but have no idea how to actually win the votes they’d need to be elected. But I’ve also seen good people pour their hearts into the arts, community improvement efforts or civic groups only to receive little support for their work.
Our economic problems in northern Minnesota aren’t a matter of there being no room. New mini malls, spec buildings and business incubators are everywhere, and they’re affordable. Our problems aren’t really related to money. We have a business community here and Iron Range Resources still spends millions every year on development projects. Our problems aren’t related to politics. The Range reliably elects Democrats to office, but the Upper Peninsula of Michigan – a culturally and economically similar area – elects Republicans and faces the same issues as us.
Our problem is, in my observation, entirely related to attitude and geography. Indeed, we must attract and retain young people, embrace creativity, and forge new development. But we must then also accept changes to our economy and culture. We are out of the way – nowhere near a major population center or top tier national highway. Our natural resources cannot account for 100 percent of our existence anymore. Thus we must give people an especially good reason to go out of their way to do business and live their lives here – something beyond pretty billboards and talk of good fishing. We can’t count on homerun projects that employ hundreds to magically deposit their everlasting glory upon our doorstep. We must do the thinking, building and working ourselves, by starting small and growing. This means entrepreneurship and innovation, using our natural resource strengths with our superior network of educational facilities.
This won’t be easy, but it’s the calling of the sons and daughters of the Iron Range. What can you do?
Aaron J. Brown is a columnist for the Hibbing Daily Tribune.