nathanaz t1_jd175sz wrote on March 21, 2023 at 2:08 AM

We live in Jamestown - bought the cheapest, run down house on the island almost 20 years ago. Were still working on it to this day. We’re married, both have good jobs.

I can tell you that amongst the full-time residents, MANY were left a house, bought a house from a relative for cheap or inherited/were gifted money to be able to buy their houses. I actually can’t think of a single family who owns a ‘mansion’ that they bought/built with zero help. Most people just have regular houses though.

I really don’t know any of the thousands of seasonal people, so I can’t really speak to that situation.

growupandblowawayy t1_jd29p98 wrote on March 21, 2023 at 9:33 AM

Jamestown can’t even staff a full fire department due to how limited the housing there is. They can’t get enough young folks to work there because the rent is too high and the pay off is too low. Eventually you’ll see these areas suffering.

SmargelingArgarfsner t1_jd2cu36 wrote on March 21, 2023 at 10:17 AM

Jamestown has had, and will continue to have an all volunteer Fire Department. While it’s true that it is prohibitively expensive to live here and our housing stock is extremely limited and shitty zoning laws are holding us back, none of that has anything to do with staffing the fire department.

growupandblowawayy t1_jd2di7k wrote on March 21, 2023 at 10:26 AM

They can’t get enough volunteers. Look I’m not trying to discredit Jamestown, but this problem will become bigger as long as the housing crisis continues. I’m quoting a recent article, not just pulling this out of my ass. It’s going to grow larger, and I don’t think any young people will be able to live on aquineck island in 10 years time.

SmargelingArgarfsner t1_jd2e064 wrote on March 21, 2023 at 10:32 AM

Yeah, it’s been a growing problem for volunteer departments throughout the country. It is certainly not unique to Jamestown, and to be honest they do pretty well given their size and geographical isolation. I thought you were blaming the lack of a paid department on housing availability which is simply not the case.

pweedith t1_jd1oeo8 wrote on March 21, 2023 at 4:40 AM

Can definitely speak to the truth of passing down homes in many of the close knit communities. I helped sell a home in Bristol last year and the neighbors on either side had both been there for decades and the family who owned the home was on their third generation!