EDITOR:

I wish to address Tom Grant’s letter ‘A Little More Action Please’ and Sviland’s letter `Northshore Development’. Condos and hotels on the Northshore are not what will attract younger people to Escanaba. What will are jobs — jobs that pay families a living wage — not more service jobs.

I have children the ages of the demographic you want to entice to stay and/or move to our town. They (as so many) have left and stayed away because the city keeps pushing Escanaba to be a tourist mecca instead of encouraging living wage employment. They all have good jobs and are actually employed outside the home in other Michigan cities and other states. A $15 minimum wage does not support a family of four with high rents and outpriced homes.

We don’t need a hotel on the Northshore or boats going back and forth across the Bay. That will not attract our younger people. It will bring in (possibly) more tourism; which is fine if you own a service business. But higher tourism increases the cost of everything for those born and raised here and who would like to stay and raise their families here.

What we are attracting are the rich who are looking for “summer homes.” Most of them are not in the 25-45 demographic looking for employment that would give their families long term stability here. Has anyone read Kathleen Parker’s article “I’m a Stranger in My Own Town” in the August 9th Daily Press? Please do, and ponder it carefully. Although we are not Charleston’s size, this is happening in too many areas of our country, in large cities and small towns. I don’t believe most of us want to be-come another Petoskey, Traverse City, Mackinac Island or even Marquette.

The Lofts are nice; and there are many empty buildings in town that could be converted to nice apartments. And again there is the House of Ludington which was and in many ways still is, an elegant building. Why hasn’t someone looked at remodeling the the hotel? Does anyone know what is happening with the Ludington?

We need growth, but let’s make sure it is the right kind of growth with decent paying jobs, good schools and reasonable housing. Let’s control the tourism and the drugs (that are rampant in our area) and promote family living.

Bonnie Cowell

Escanaba