secret hearts
Posted on 12. Aug, 2011 by Adrian in op-ed
words > JASON DILTS
photo > PARKER TATRO
It seems that many of us have more of a love/hate relationship with our air capital city. We love so many of the interesting, inviting people we meet and form friendships with here. Yet we hate that an urban community, with over half a million people in its radius, lags behind culturally and developmentally compared to other locales our size. That simple fact often diminishes Wichita’s best asset—its people. It’s no secret that we’re fantastically successful at driving away young talent.
“Attracting and retaining young professionals” is more than a Chamber of Commerce buzz phrase. It’s the clandestine key to the long-term viability of a city. It’s also a seminal element to fundamental fulfillment. None of us are happy when we wave goodbye to a friend, family member, or colleague because they leave for a city they feel will provide a better quality of life. Yet, how many of you have done this? I’m assuming most.
Wichita’s greatest export seems to be its youth. It’s fitting that we’re known for manufacturing airplanes; over the years there have been lots of one way flights out of town!
So how do we make Wichita a city people are flying into and not flocking away from? That’s a complex question that none of our leaders have quite found the answer to yet. They’re trying, though, and making strides in the right direction. Last year, the group Young Professionals of Wichita helped fund a “community handprint” study that looked in-depth at ICT millennials. The findings mirrored research that has been conducted in other communities. Wichita young professionals want to live in a city with thriving nightlife and alternative entertainment where they can be productive members of a creative, evolving, and dynamic workforce. City leaders applauded the study, and action has been promised.
Since then, it feels like little has really changed. Chain restaurants pop up on the east and west sides of town to large crowds while downtown eateries with local flair struggle to keep their doors open. The INTRUST Arena hosts pop sensations like Nickelback and Taylor Swift, while boundary-pushing acts like Mumford and Sons and Arcade Fire head north to Kansas City to entertain. Google chooses KCK to develop its new fiber technology, with Wichita not even being on their map for consideration. These are not the things that make young people want to stay! It’s unfair simply to fault our politicians and community leaders, though. Some issues are too complex for the disjointed world of politics to effectively impact.
True to our Midwestern sensibilities, Wichitans like comfort and familiarity. Let’s be real. There’s something about the tastes and values of the millennial generation—that young talent our city so desperately wants to retain—that is a bit off-putting to the traditional minds that govern so many facets of city life. We dress differently, eat weird foods, shop local, date and mate outside our race, and have gay friends. We marry later—if at all–we care more about saving the environment than we do about making millions, and we view ourselves professionally as independent agents more often than we do as company men and women. While we aren’t the “flower-power” rebels that divided the baby boomers, our differences are perhaps more threatening to a city like Wichita because they aren’t reactions. Millennial values are the result of growing up in an integrated society during the age of global technology. They are a tacit reflection of where the world is headed, not a reaction to where it has been. Few will say it out loud, but that’s downright scary to the good old boys who dominate this city!
If we really want to progress as a city, we need to reconcile these tensions. It’s ok to be uncomfortable. It’s not ok, though, to stand in the way of progress. Perhaps we need a détente of sorts. Maybe we should be inviting all of those downtown developers, business leaders, city politicians, and high profile decision makers to peek inside our world. Let’s have them accompany us to a Final Friday art show, a Rock Island Live concert, a Tallgrass Film Festival screening, or a Second Saturday shopping expedition. Most of us know someone who’s a member of that infamous “good old boys” network. What are you doing to show them what YOU heart about ICT and to inform them about what would keep you here? And community leaders—you know who you are—what are YOU doing to widen the channels of your own understandings?
Sometimes, we have to look in the mirror to unlock the secret to success. If you’re tired of your friends and family members buying one-way tickets to better lives in different cities, do something about it! Talent can come flying back to Wichita, but only when we broaden our horizons.
2 Responses to “secret hearts”
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Jessica White
12. Aug, 2011
So true, Jason! I just told my talented best friend good bye last week as she flew away to a new job in Connecticut. And guess what? She was an entrepreneurship major, like me, from WSU. Our young, creative generation needs to focus on creating services and products for our community — therefore creating jobs and interest and culture. This town is full of entrepreneurial talent and mentors, and the best thing we can do is invest in creative ideas for this community!!!
Jan Reckers
12. Aug, 2011
Agree with the article. Although I’m not sure it’s so simple to just “show them what we like”. It can take years to get community leaders or older gens holding the reins of ICT to listen/understand/care about this issue. As a young professional, if you have a student loan breathing down your neck and an empty resume, you don’t have time for endless council meetings that go in circles. I’m 33 and can attest to great strides being made during my lifetime in WIchita. But one action, like cutting funding to the arts, can break down everything our community has worked to build up. It’s exhausting! And understandable why young profs go elsewhere to start a career/life. I think as Jason points out, a big issue is whether or not we as a community are going to embrace the kinds of lives the younger gens want to live, or remain in denial that time marches on. Let’s hope it doesn’t march on without Wichita..