Thoughts on Laramie’s appeal as a place for young people to put down roots were presented to Laramie’s City Council at its March 27 work session along with a resolution urging councilors to consider new data on alcohol-related incidents as the date for liquor license renewals approaches.
Students walking through the Union a couple weeks ago may have stopped at a survey table run by the Laramie Youth Council to ask for opinions about what would make Laramie an appealing place to live on a long-term basis, rather than only during college. It turns out that the Youth Council is comprised entirely of Laramie High School students who are an official part of Laramie’s local government: Chancellor Caitlin Huang; Vice Chancellor George Yost; Secretary Sam Miller; Arundathi Nair; Calvin Webb; Hannah Johnson; Holly Wodahl.
“We try to represent youth interests in the community and give the youth a voice,” Miller said.
During Tuesday’s meeting, the Youth Council presented the results of their economic development survey, to which 260 individuals responded, to the city councilors and a full audience. The most prominent theme among responses and suggestions was that students were looking for solid employment, especially positions that were suited to their degrees. Most responders were seeking STEM degrees, followed by business and education.
“Laramie’s youth population has been diminishing quite a bit—they come here for the university and leave, or high schoolers who’ve lived here their whole life end up leaving,” Webb said. “We’re trying to figure out what we can do to make them stay here, get Laramie on the map, make this a place people want to be.”
As for reasons why students might leave, an inverse lack of employment was followed closely by the simple desire to experience a new setting. Many students also indicated a desire for more affordable housing, an issue that was recognized by City Councilor Klaus Hanson as he responded to the Youth Council.
“That’s one of the issues that we do have in this town,” Hanson said. “Living expenses are fairly high compared to the rest of the state but wages, or the income possibilities, are not that high. That was an aspect that really spoke to me in your survey.”
Another significant development at the council meeting was the official presentation of a resolution from the A-Team, a coalition of representatives from various UW and Laramie organizations focused on reducing underage and irresponsible use of alcohol, and advocating for student health and safety.
In the resolution, the A-Team demonstrated a link between certain various alcohol-serving establishments in Laramie and higher rates of alcohol-related arrests and other incidents, with the intent of encouraging more responsibility in the policies of bars and other locations as well as closer scrutiny of infractions and higher standards overall.
“Hopefully this will spark some conversation and engage some dialogue with our liquor establishments,” AWARE Program Coordinator and A-Team Chair Monica Keele said. “My hope is this will encourage the council to keep this data in mind as they move forward on any point system changes, any considerations when they talk to liquor license holders. I’m hoping that it will bring some of our liquor establishments to the table as well.”
At the Tuesday meeting, the Council was open to public comment, but the audience had little to say aside from Keele’s delivery of the A-Team resolution. Liquor licenses will be considered for renewal at the next regular meeting of City Council on Tuesday, April 3, at 6:30 p.m.—which, as always, will be open to the public.
