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weren’t wildly popular in the beginning. There’s always a risk in trying something new, and having something fail can only add to the discouragement small towns face. “The ROZ program has been great for us,” says Republic County Commissioner Linda Holl, who was elected in 2001. “We’re finding more people every year. It’s a great incentive for them to come home. I honestly didn’t feel that way when the ROZ program first came out.” A GROWTH MINDSET For young people living the rural life in places such as Republic County, challenges remain. Social life is different – spent with family and a few friends instead of the eclectic shops, bars and restaurants in Kansas City’s Crossroads Arts District or Wichita’s Old Town. But younger residents can play a key role in creating their own social opportunities. Wolters, the Belleville chiropractor, golfs in the Tuesday men’s league at the Belleville Country Club. On Thursdays, people play pickup basketball at the gym in Courtland. A group of amateur brewers meets to discuss and sample beers. “You learn to live with those kind of differences,” says Douglas, the hardware store owner. “This is a more laid-back approach to life. I’m pretty much a homebody.” Some quality of life issues loom larger, and communities must work vigorously to address them if they want to be attractive places for younger residents. Affordable housing is the most persistent issue for Mahin and the communities trying to attract new families. The environment for new development can be challenging in rural areas, leaving few quality homes and apartments available to prospective residents. In Belleville, the remodeling of the former middle school into apartments and the building of new townhomes are one attempt to provide shelter. “It’s true everywhere in rural Kansas,” Clark said. “It is the No. 1 conundrum: finding housing that is both affordable and habitable. If a teacher
moves to town, is there a house for rent or purchase that is both affordable and habitable?” Broadband Internet access is a must. Community leaders also are on constant alert to provide entertainment opportunities for young adults and children. At Belleville’s community-owned Blair Theater, tickets are $5 and discounted to $3 on Thursday and $2 on Tuesday. But it’s attitude more than any one amenity that is at the heart of making a small community an attractive place to younger residents. Residents themselves must strongly believe in their town’s capacity to grow and address its challenges if they want others to call it home. Along with her friends, Cooper, a 38-year employee of Leonard’s Appliance and Coles’ Appliance Center in downtown Belleville, provides some of that enthusiasm. She and her friends decorate lockers at the Republic County High School before games, plays and concerts. They hang senior banners in school colors of red, white and blue on the fence surrounding the football stadium. Members of the Buffalo Actors Guild get a tote bag on the final night of the school play. After games, they wait to hug each athlete.Years later, they say, the athletes remember the people who paid attention to them in high school. “I can tell you there’s nothing smellier than a football boy that comes off the field and gives you a hug,” Cooper says. “They come off the volleyball court, and, boy, they smell like roses,” says Sandy Cole, co-owner of Coles’ Appliance Center. Along the way, they make sure the high school graduates know they are welcome to return. That’s a big change from the story that a lot of rural Kansas towns have been telling young people for years. And challenging that narrative by testing a new one makes a difference. “For so long, people were discouraging kids. ‘There’s nothing here for you’ kept ringing in people’s ears,” Clark says. “They began to believe it. Now they’re telling the next generation to keep us in mind, remember that you’re always welcome back.”