Disqus - Latest Comments for Kayelle

Re: Housing on Cape Cod

Kayelle — Thu, 15 Jan 2009 13:38:42 -0000

Good article here about the kind of issues I feel are really big in the Cape's problems.

http://www.washingtonmonthl...

Re: Housing on Cape Cod

Kayelle — Thu, 15 Jan 2009 12:48:18 -0000

We have kicked around a lot of places. If it was staying in Mass, probably JP. We've considered SF, Boston, Vancouver, and Toronto for cities. Any small college town in a blue state would work as well. We're not city people. We like small towns, but the social aspects I think we don't want to repeat.

Re: Housing on Cape Cod

Kayelle — Thu, 15 Jan 2009 12:12:50 -0000

I think this is a vital comment. "Affordable Housing" is not an answer at all, mainly because the kind of young professionals the cape is losing don't qualify for it anyway.

Jobs and salaries are a huge one. But one job is not enough, you need a "Creative Class" community where spouses can find jobs, where the is a community of people with similar interests, where the jobs are challenging and interesting, and where there is an expectation that people are clever.

I have an excellent job on paper. We certainly can afford to live here, but we're deeply unhappy and looking at moving off once the recession is over and I have a chance at finding a job. My partner can't find a job that is challenging or pays her worth, not just because they aren't available, but also because as a younger woman she's tracked into secretarial work by older male supervisors. I work in IT and my job pays well, but I never work with anything new and I can feel my skills atrophying because technology needs to be dumbed down to the Cape workforce.

And honestly, being part of the Creative Class and living on Cape is to live in alienation. There is just no peer group here. I am so tired of the sniff and sneer if I pull out one of them newfangled blackberry phone thingies with a typewriter on it, mention a band that's not 30 years old, or God forbid mention a videogame that apparently you're not allowed to play on Cape if you're over 12. My God, even other IT people are like "Warcraft? What's that?"

Re: Housing on Cape Cod

Kayelle — Tue, 09 Dec 2008 11:54:17 -0000

One of the problems with housing on Cape is that there is so little salary or career advancement, particularly as compared with the increase in real estate. I've heard several comments about the need for starter housing or rental housing, but what is the point? If you can't afford a home today, you certainly won't be able to afford it tomorrow. Entry level housing isn't an opportunity on cape as it is elsewhere, it's a roach motel. You may go in, but you'll never get out. (Unless you move off cape.)

With due respect allmedia, lecturing people about how all they need to do is buck up and work hard is not particularly helpful.

Re: School Consolidation - How do we offer quality education w/out overrides?

Kayelle — Tue, 09 Dec 2008 11:48:18 -0000

One of the issues with regionalization is whether it will be a race to the top or a race to the bottom. Would, for example, combining DY (dismal) with Nauset (quite good) result in Nauset levels of quality for students in Dennis and Yarmouth or would Dennis and Yarmouth use their voting power to instead drag Nauset down to DY levels?

Structural changes might help, but the real issue is an overall lack of respect for education. And it's most certainly not a generational issue. While wealthy second home owners may not want to pay taxes to the local schools, they at least understand the value of education or they wouldn't be able to afford those second homes. I see the least respect for education from parents. I sit in my office and listen to the most horrific ignorant attitudes and just roll my eyes and keep my mouth shut. "Why should I have to pay for the bus? Why can't they just lay off teachers? They make too much money anyway and big classes never hurt me." "Why do they have to have foreign languages, why do you need a foreign language on cape?" (I'll spare you the racist comment about Brasilians that followed that one.) "Why does my daughter need to take algebra, I've never used algebra!" "These kids are getting way to much homework, how is my son supposed to keep his job?"

That attitude goes beyond just funding for the schools. It speaks to the priorities of the community and sends a message to kids about what is important. As a soon to be parent, I want my children to have good schools, but I also want them to grow up understanding the vital importance and value of education, both for economic advancement and for its own sake.

Even the title of the blog post is telling of cape attitudes. How do we offer quality education without overrides. I'm not in favor of blank checks, but it leads one to question whether the issue is saving money or offering better education.