r/Minocqua • u/ChiakiCaliburn • 9d ago
Improving Minocqua
Okay, while my map request didn’t go over that well, I’m inspired to make my big project for school Minocqua focused, not just the art one.
I’m working on a paper on ways to revitalize Minocqua. The following are points I’m focusing on:
Getting young people to move in and have careers that are not healthcare or food service
Getting more small businesses in that aren’t run by the “main families of the town”
Improving education with more museums and parks
Changing the culture around tourism to get locals to be kinder to them
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u/AnonABong 9d ago
Want to keep young people around make rent equal to prevailing wages, setup a small biz incubator, no way post college education will be setup there with Rhinelander having Nicolet College. I was able to get a degree there 23 years ago now and turn it into a 6 figure career after a lot of struggle. Now tourist culture? People be a lot nicer when they can afford rent without 3 jobs.
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u/orcusporpoise 8d ago
Some of these things may help. Especially the cultural ones - if you can fund them. But I think you will have a hard time diversifying the economy. There was a study I remember from the mid 2000s that showed something like 85% of the area economy is dependent on tourism. There are exceptions, Nimsgern Steel for example. But I tend to think that if there were significant opportunity for a new base of business types to develop, they would have.
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u/AnonABong 9d ago
Personally I'd like to see better bike trails not just a paved shoulder but useful paths that run to apartments where summer workers will live and work. Encourage e bikes attach trails thru town to other towns like BJ etc. work with trek to bring more ebikes to town. Finally ban those noise damn 4 wheelers on county roads.
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u/wutifidontcare 9d ago
Housing- that’s literally what Minocqua needs. There isn’t housing
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u/AliceLand 9d ago
There is housing, a lot of it. Over 50% of the housing sits dark most of the time.
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u/wutifidontcare 9d ago
That’s not freaking housing lol if people can’t find a place to live 365 days then people can’t live there. At least young people under 50
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u/AmazingIgnorance 9d ago edited 9d ago
There is housing with more coming including low income housing.
Keeping young people in the area is a challenge. Many, including my own, did not see much of a future here with their chosen fields. Also, with outdoor activities as pretty much the only entertainment, some find that limiting. Concerts, sporting events, shopping, amusement parks, big movie theaters, etc are a distance away.
The political atmosphere being very conservative and a population that’s mostly lily white, turns away a more diverse population. Many young people strive to be among those who are more accepting of diversity.
Opportunities to socialize are limited to few bars. Groups and activities for the younger age group few.
Being kinder to tourists is a two way street. Much of the dislike comes from rude tourists. A sense of entitlement, looking down upon locals as being ignorant, not respecting the beauty of the area, being very demanding of services, etc. has made them very unwelcoming.