Engage Young People in Your Community

26 Jun Engage Young People in Your Community

Many communities focus their efforts on making their spaces family friendly, but what can community leaders do to attract and engage young people in their community? For our specific case, let’s consider young adults to be those in their 20s to low 30s. Many people tend to assume that once someone graduates high school or college that they may bounce around until finding their forever home. But what if your town is one of those pit stops? What can you do to help make your community appealing to young adults and encourage them to stay put and become involved and engaged in the community?

1. Define your target audience. Make sure you know what age groups you are trying to engage and recognize what appeals to them. If you focus too much on ways to attract families or older adults, then young adults will likely feel out of place or not welcomed. Many young adults like to go to big cities because there are more people their age, more things to do, places to eat and they feel that there is something for everyone. However, there are many small towns that do invest in amenities that engage young people in their community.
2. Take inventory! What does your community currently have to offer? Research the best places for young people to live and identify what makes them so appealing. Some small communities cannot fully compete with large cities, but there are certainly things you can do to encourage young adults to visit your town initially and then actions you can take to show them the value your town holds. Especially if your community is smaller, capitalize on this and find ways to show young adults the advantages to living in a small town!
3. Hold fun events often! Events such as Thirsty Thursdays at a local bar, karaoke nights, drive-in movies, concerts, pub quiz nights, farmer’s and craft markets, local vendor fairs, town celebrations, cultural and music festivals are all enticing ways to bring young people together.
4. Hold town meetings and invite young adults to attend. Allow them to speak and give suggestions for additions or improvements that could be made to the town. However, don’t put them on the spot and make them feel uncomfortable. You don’t want to risk scaring them away. Find out what their interests are and allow them to hold leadership positions so they have the opportunity to become involved and gain a vested interest in local projects. Giving them ownership of community development will help them to develop a sense of pride.
5. Implement a mentor program! This a great opportunity for young people to meet other leaders in the community that they may not otherwise come in contact with. Offer a program in which a local, older member of the community is paired up with a young adult. Young professionals value networking and creating relationships, and older professionals may benefit from the new, innovative ideas of young professionals.
6. Recreational options! Young people like to be active and stay busy. What is the condition of the city parks and facilities, walking trails, basketball and tennis courts, etc.? Is there a lake or river nearby? If so, what is the condition of the public beach? Are kayaks, canoes, paddle boards, tubes, fishing poles available for rent during the summer? If these are not present in your community, is it possible to change that? What are the workout facilities like? Are fitness classes offered anywhere? These are all very appealing for young adults, especially in the summer! Think tourist attractions.
7. Local transportation. Does your town or region have a taxi service, Uber or Lyft? You might not think your small town needs a full-time taxi, but if you want to offer a safe and convenient option for young adults to visit your community, consider having someone sign-up to be a driver for your community. Many young people appreciate having peace of mind knowing this is an option, especially if they plan to go out and have fun with friends. It also lets people know that you value their safety.
8. Reliable Wifi! It may not seem like a big deal, but if your town has slow internet, it will be a huge turn off and inconvenience. Streaming TV, virtual conference calls and meetings, Zoom and Facetime happy hours with friends and family, you name it, are the new normal these days, and if people are unable to easily do these things, it will be very frustrating. If fiber optic internet is an option for your town, take advantage of it and make sure you promote thy convenience.
9. Presence on social platforms!! I can’t emphasize this enough. What do young people do when they don’t know something? They look it up or try to find it on social media. Ensure that your town has a welcoming website with updated information, a well-run Facebook page and Instagram if appropriate. Many towns have a chamber of commerce that will take care of this. Encourage local businesses, especially retail and restaurants to do the same. Having a consistent and engaging presence on social media will allow you to promote upcoming events, share news, post job openings, recognize community members, display photos and testimonials of your town, its attractions, and more. It will also reflect well and make it easy for people to look up upcoming events, business hours, menus, etc.! Just make sure that your website and social pages are not outdated or poorly run because that is sometimes worse than not having them at all.
10. Variety of housing options. Young people may not be ready to buy a house, especially right out of college. Are there affordable, updated condos or apartments available in your community? Nothing is a bigger turn off than getting a new job in a new town and then realizing that all of your housing options are run-down, old apartments that cost more than they are worth. Take inventory of the housing options your town has to offer and if there is a need for more, talk to community leaders as well as other locals about the need or consider applying for grants to help fund the development of more housing. There are even grants available in Iowa to establish downtown housing. We love this downtown loft apartment on Main Street Manning.

We recognize that every community is unique in its own way and that each town has particular strengths and weaknesses. While some of these options may not be viable for some communities, we encourage you to gather a small group of passionate leaders and take a look at your town, determine what the demographic consists of and why this is the case. Challenge yourselves to implement a few of these suggestions to attract and engage young people. We think your future community will thank you. If you are interested in unbiased, third-party recommendations for your community or have specific questions, don’t hesitate to reach out to us!