Update/Context: When this column was first published a few years ago, urban challenges were already noticeable but compared to the current conditions in many major cities, those earlier concerns now seem minor. Over the past 60 years, rural populations in America have steadily declined, making it an opportune time to invite urban residents to consider the advantages of rural living. With the rising appeal of safer, more peaceful lifestyles, we should start by engaging young people with rural roots, and then broaden our efforts to attract others who are seeking a higher quality of life outside the city.

 A step in the right direction is the recently launched 'Love, Kansas' boomerang campaign to attract former residents back, emphasizing the opportunities for those willing to engage in new ventures. This underscores the growing need for environments where individuals are empowered to take control of their own learning, creativity, and entrepreneurial endeavors.

We've Told Them To Leave

It’s a common question at community and economic development meetings. It’s usually prefaced with discussion about the general decline in population in rural areas of Kansas. And then someone says, “Why are our young people leaving?” The answer is that the youth are doing just what we’ve told them to do. For at least the last 60 years, we’ve told them to leave. The message, from our families, our schools, our peers, indeed, all of society has been that the opportunities are all “out there somewhere” and to be successful in life, you’ll have to go somewhere else. That part of the message has been very direct. A more subtle part of the message is the implication that if you come back to your hometown, it means you couldn’t “cut it” in the city. So, off they’ve gone for generations, many never to return and we wonder why they have gone.

How do we change this? 

Here are three things we should be doing. 1.) Change the message; 2.) As they leave to find fame, fortune or education, tell them they are always welcome to return and 3.) Invite those already “out there” to return.

1.)Change the message to one that says opportunities lie within finding solutions to the problems of others, and that you can solve problems for others as an employee of a company or as an entrepreneur and small business owner. There are problems, hence, opportunities everywhere.

2.)At 18 – 20 years old, most youth want to see their hometowns in the rear-view mirror--that’s natural. We need to encourage them to “go out into the world” and find their way to a happy and fulfilling life by solving problems for others. However, we need to also say that their hometown is part of the “world” and there are plenty of problems here that need to be solved, and, that they are always welcome to come home. Humboldt, Kansas gives each graduating senior a personalized mailbox as a symbolic invitation to return at any time.

3.)Every small town should have a process for inviting the home-town youth to return. This effort would include a database of youth identities and locations discovered through inquiries with local family members and class reunion organizers. Then, systematically, young people are invited to return. Of course, everyone won’t be interested in coming home, but even a success rate of 10% would be impressive.

I’ve noticed that the best and brightest young people returning to the area as entrepreneurs and professionals are coming back to be close to family. We should do everything we can to encourage them to come back to their families and that there are opportunities everywhere, especially in their hometowns.