[Vision2020] When Moscow Doubles - Questioning the premise

[Nils Peterson]

(Thanks Mark, for pointing out that I mis-addressed this; I did want it go
into the general conversation)



I think the pivotal issue here is demographics. Who are these would-be
doublers? 

They are not UI or NSA students. The demographic of 18-22 year olds is
peaking and headed down. More likely the university will struggle to hold on
to its position in an increasingly competitive market. WSU seems to be
positioning itself as a graduate university. NSA may fare better than UI in
that it has a very special market niche.

The doublers are not university employees. See above. WSU's move up-market
may increase its faculty numbers, but not hugely.

What about high tech? Schweitzer et al? Harder to predict. The right company
could grow from nothing today. More likely, if the right handful that are
small today experienced double digit growth. Less likely, but possible, is a
company re-locating here. Not a huge company. 100 employees.  This makes a
topic for this discussion, how would we recruit/ screen/ facilitate or
impede such a company? Given my theme of identifying gov't & civic
organizations that are needed for this doubling -- the Chamber and LEDC seem
to be the organizations we have to do this work.

Are the would-be doublers retirees? At age 50, I consider myself the end of
the baby boom, and have watched recreational property that I might enjoy
(like a place at the Oregon Coast) jump way up in price as the boomers ahead
of me got similar ideas.  Imagine a couple that have had good, steady
employment for the last 20+ years. They purchased and paid off a home. It
has appreciated significantly because of its location in an urban area,
perhaps to $400,000 or more. This couple is 62, kids grown and gone, and
they are tired of the urban life. They draw $50K in retirement from several
sources. There are thousands of these people. Might they come to Moscow?
This is a wild card, but unlike new high tech business, I'm not sure what
gov't and civic organizations might be needed.






On 5/21/06 8:34 AM, "Mark Solomon" <msolomon at moscow.com> wrote:

> ...more likely that we'll see a leveling of the growth rates between
> the two: 0.75% annually for Moscow. Of course, we are a different
> community with different amenities (such as a forested mountain just
> outside of town) but I would like someone to explain why we should
> either plan for or expect our population to double in 15 years when
> there is no historical trend to indicate it will occur. We are not
> Boise or Coeur d'Alene or Sandpoint or McCall or Kuna or Meridian
> or....