Plattsburgh natives relocate due to few jobs

By Amanda Smith
Little incentive from the Town of Plattsburgh has caused its public to leave their native rural area. Due to limited employment opportunities and low pay, much of Plattsburgh’s populace is flocking to urban areas. Although the town’s goals include increasing job openings and attractiveness, many continue to part ways with their hometown. An article featured in Newsweek about rural America’s bleak future as a result of a decline in population for various reasons, also known as the “rural brain drain,” is similar to Plattsburgh’s crisis. The article tells about a small county in Kansas that enticed populations to come back to the area by offering free land to those who could be preapproved by a bank and start building within one year, but such a program cannot exist in Plattsburgh. “There are too few available vacant building lots within the existing city limits to make such an enticement program feasible,” said Jim Bailey, city historian. “I think you'll find that municipal leaders at all local levels are focusing on increasing job opportunities rather than home sites in order to increase populations.” The town continues to come up with beneficial goals to support itself despite a declining population. Phil Von Bargen, Town of Plattsburgh’s Planning Dept. Director, helps to come up with those goals as well as keep tabs on the town’s population trends. The town is made up of nearly 12,000 people, excluding the city, he said. According to the town’s 1999 Comprehensive Land Use Plan, the town “took a hit,” as Von Bargen put it, in 1995 due to the closure of the Air Force Base. Since then, the population has been steadily increasing about 3% each year, but that isn’t what the Comprehensive Land Use Plan projected. In 1999, the town predicted that the population would be nearly 13,000 by 2010, a thousand people short of today’s estimate. NYC’s five boroughs haven’t had as much of a problem as a small town like Plattsburgh; NYC has seen a 4.4% increase from 2000 to 2008, according to the US Census Bureau. In addition to having less of a population than expected, jobs in the area have been scarce as well. The closure of the Air Force Base has most likely contributed to this as well, but because the base isn’t zoned for residential living, it has the potential to create jobs. The population will go where there’s more industrialization because there are more jobs available, Von Bargen said. The City of Plattsburgh has no more space to further develop; the Town of Plattsburgh has nearly 70% of its land waiting to be commercially developed. Until the base is more industrialized, will employment increase. According to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, Clinton County’s current unemployment rate is 9% which is slightly above the state average of 8.8%. However, Albany County and NYC, including Bronx, Kings, Queens, New York and Richmond counties, are either below or in-between the state average and Clinton County’s unemployment rate, except for Bronx County which has a rate of 13.3%. Dir. of Admissions at SUNY Plattsburgh, Rich Higgins has seen students move away for many reasons, usually in search of better job opportunities. A variety of jobs are offered in urban areas like Albany, making them more enticing than rural areas to students, he said. “If someone wants to come back here, it (the job) has to be relevant to the area,” he said. “If they are encouraged, they’ll come back.” But many aren’t being encouraged. A number of majors that were thought to do well in the area like criminal justice aren’t making enough money and have limited positions available which requires an out of area move and leaves little incentive to stay in rural Plattsburgh.
In her twenty years of working at Clinton County Community College, associate dean of institutional research and planning, Rita Ward-Slater said the school is at an all-time high for full-time students.
“When there are no jobs, people go to school in hopes of something better; you can live on loans,” she said.
Research done by the college shows that only 20% of students pursuing the Associate in Applied Sciences degree graduated in the 2006 Fall semester; the degree was designed to help students begin education for employment in a particular career.
In an e-mail concerning college statistics sent by Ward-Slater, of 118 grads 34% of students found jobs soon after graduating, 26% changed colleges and 4% were unemployed, but there were also a high number of students’ whereabouts unknown. Those students’ whose whereabouts are unknown as well as those who found jobs within 6 months of graduating may very-well have moved away to urban centers. Ward-Slater thinks about 2/3 of grads are staying in area depending on whether or not they find work in the field.
One career option that is making money straight out of community college, is nursing. This profession makes more than most teachers, who spend more money to go to college to get their degree. The only problem with it is the job can be done anywhere meaning it is not exclusive to the Plattsburgh area. So what kinds of jobs can local high school grads acquire in the area and are they able to take them?
“It’s hard to send a kid away to school [in these times,]” Alan Seazelle, Plattsburgh High School counselor said. “More kids are staying in state during the bad economy.”
Seazelle made a point to say that it’s “very seldom” that kids don’t go to college. Newsweek’s brain drain article mentioned that “small towns traditionally put all their efforts behind smart students, pushing them out into four-year universities.” About 65% of students goes to four-year colleges, 25% go to two-year colleges and the rest either go out into the workforce or the military; the drop-out rate is low as well, Seazelle said.
There is incentive within the high schools though. Students with an average of 90 or higher receive free tuition to a community college or SUNY Plattsburgh.
Kristina Moquin, mental health counselor at SUNY Plattsburgh and Plattsburgh High student, was one of the few Plattsburgh natives that decided to stay local. Although she applied to schools outside the state, SUNY Plattsburgh was the best fit financially. Even though she was fortunate enough to find a well-paying job in the area, many of the high school friends she went to college with have moved away.
“Every single one of my friends have moved away to find jobs,” she said.
Other friends she knew from high school that live in the area are now corrections officers, teachers, police or work in the medical field.