Midsummer is such a nice time in Golden.
As locals, we get to experience all that the area has to offer. We also welcome visitors with open arms, allowing them to experience all of the beautiful wonders we have here as well.
Along with this, comes busier streets, parks, restaurants, and other businesses.
Once again, at the height of tourist season, I have been hearing from local businesses that there are just not enough employees in town.
While tourism numbers continue to grow, we need to address a few things within golden that will help make our community more livable and continue to attract the visitors we want to see.
One of these changes can include looking for new ways to bring new seasonal employees in, or retaining the ones that come here over the winter.
How can we attract more seasonal employees to come and stay in Golden during the summer? Surely we have more attractions than just our deep powder days.
In the summer, we have hiking, biking, sightseeing, and more.
Would staff housing be an incentive? Do we put the onus on the business owner, by increasing wages?
Retaining seasonal winter employees seems key. But, so does raising the incentive to attract summer seasonal employees.
On the topic of staff housing, hopefully the Town of Golden can come up with a solution to minimize short-term rentals and promote long-term rentals within town limits.
As someone who has come to love and live in Golden long-term, I have also felt the effects of unaffordable and unattainable long-term housing.
One of the ways we could try to help solve the employee shortage, would be to create more affordable housing options in town. This could include options like houses with basement suites, duplexes, or townhouses.
When I say long-term affordable housing, I don’t just mean for the rental market. One of the best ways to create a sustainable long-term economy, is to create a housing market that is affordable to buy in the long term.
Maybe I’m just dreaming, but wouldn’t that be great for everyone?
When there are employee shortages, the people who are employed by a business might have to work twice as hard to keep things afloat. Or, businesses must close their doors, losing out on potential revenue.
Overworked employees won’t want to stay in Golden. People who struggle to find housing won’t want to stay either. To me, these issues go hand in hand with making Golden an even better place to live.
