Letter: Stevens Point doesn’t need more rental units
To the Editor-
Population statistics for the City of Stevens Point since 1960 show some interesting numbers:
1960: 17,837
1970: 23,479
1980: 22,970 The AVERAGE for the 70 years is 23,552 without
1990: 23,006 using UWSP data.
2000: 25,692
2010: 26,717
2020: 25,160
Population statistics for UWSP follow:
1970: 8,734/7,978 (first- and second-semester attendance)
1980: 9,183/8,432
1990: 8,806/8,314
2000: 9,220/7,977
2010: 9,553/8,934
2020: 6,725/6,559
If you subtract the lowest enrollment in 2020 from the highest enrollment in 2010, there is a decline of close to 3000 (2,828) students.
Our city officials and university officials would like us to believe that it was all about COVID. But wait, the census included those people living in Stevens Point and that number would include those many students that attended schools in other parts of our state and beyond and were living in Stevens Point and counted in the 2020 census.
The argument that students attending UWSP were unable to be counted is a wash. There were declining enrollment years well before COVID hit. Stevens Point has had declining enrollment in nine out of the last 10 years. Stevens Point is three percent lower in attendance this year. Across the state university system, there are only 3 universities that have enrollment in the plus column: Madison (+5%), Green Bay (+3%), and Superior (+4%), based on preliminary numbers.
A new plan for the Wisconsin system is to grant free tuition to all who come from families earning less than $62,000. A way to destroy our high-quality education is to allow attendees an admissions test-optional policy for ACT or SAT scores. In other words, there are no standards or expectations for anyone at this time.
Enrollment at the UW system’s branch campuses, which merged with various four-year schools in 2018, fell 9%, or about 500 students, from last fall. The UW System is committed to keeping these schools open and trying new strategies to reverse a decade-long decline, such as I mentioned in the above paragraph.
Now, you may wonder, why I’m listing all these stats. Here are my reasons. Our city officials keep telling us we need more rentals, more affordable housing, more, more and more of this and that.
We have an average population that isn’t growing (in the last 70 years). We have a tax base that is making it difficult, at best, to live in this city or state. We are fifth-highest in the nation regarding taxes.
We don’t need to add ADU/ACU units to existing neighborhoods, and we certainly don’t need more buildings to house people that aren’t here. Examples to date: Point Motel project, Berkshire, Kmart site, The Convent, and North Side Yard.
Once again, city officials are trying to sell us a bill of goods that is unwelcome, unwanted, and unnecessary. Let’s use facts, not emotions and dreams, to destroy the very backbone of this city.
Ruth Pfiffner
Stevens Point
