Balancing Trade-Offs of Living on Island

By IAN FEIN

Jennifer Christy cannot think of a better place to raise her three
young children than Chilmark, the same small town where she spent most
of her childhood.

She appreciates the quality of life and supportive community, which
offers a combination of safety, the outdoors, and plenty of activities
for children. She said it is a wonderful place to build a family,
despite the high cost of living.

"It is difficult to make a go of it here, because things are
so expensive," Mrs. Christy said in a recent interview, sitting in
front of a row of books at the Aquinnah Public Library, where she works
as the director. "But it's hard to complain about the costs
when you choose to live here. This place is so beautiful and
accommodating for what we want."

The town and Island are under increasing pressure, however, and Mrs.
Christy is uncertain how those changes will play out in the coming
decades. She is concerned about the lack of affordable housing options
for the younger generations, but recognizes that further development
will likely encroach on the environment, which is also an important
aspect of her life on the Island.

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"I'm looking to the future for my kids, and I am a
little worried," said Mrs. Christy, who turned 38 last month.
"Realistically, I can see it might not happen that they live here.
And I think a lot of parents feel that; it's something that
crosses our minds. I wonder whether my kids will see the same worth in
sacrificing."

Preserving that worth is a primary concern for the Martha's
Vineyard Commission as it forges ahead with its Island Plan, an
ambitious effort to draft a blueprint for the future of the Vineyard.
Work groups of Island residents are now framing goals on four major
issues identified in the plan, and a steering committee will then work
to find an appropriate balance between the sometimes competing
interests,

Mrs. Christy has been following the early stages of the planning
endeavor, and finds the effort intriguing.

"These are some very difficult problems that are being
posited. Each thing has good and bad on both sides, and when you change
one, you affect the others," she said. "Obviously if we work
on this, then there will be more of a reason to stay. But if we
don't get it right, then the balance could tip," Mrs.
Christy added.

"We all want to follow the right path. But it's very
foggy."

Along with her mother and twin sister, Mrs. Christy moved to the
Vineyard from Manhattan at the age of seven. She remembers that first
snowy winter at the Chilmark School as a culture shock, but said she
loved it right away.

Now, 30 years later, she is living on the same property, renting a
guest house from her mother and stepfather. She and her husband, Todd,
have a five-year-old son and a pair of their own twin daughters, who are
two. Their son is in his second year at the Chilmark preschool, and
- like his mother before him - he loves it.

Much about the simple and quiet town has changed in those three
decades, however. As young girls, Mrs. Christy and her sister would walk
down State Road to school. But now, as a protective mother, she has
trouble imagining her daughters doing the same.

"I wouldn't let my kids do that - ever," she
said with a self-conscious smile. "There's just too much
traffic."

Though some aspects of growth have changed things for the worse, in
her opinion, there have also been some real benefits. She believes the
quality of public education on the Island has improved dramatically, and
said there are far more opportunities and activities for young children
- some of which she has helped develop through her work at the
Chilmark and Aquinnah public libraries.

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"I hope my children have many of the same small-town
experiences that I had, but in a more far-reaching way," Mrs.
Christy said. "We didn't really appreciate it until we
became parents, but there are innumerable things we get our kids
involved with out here. Most places our size don't have so many
resources."

Earlier that morning, a friend of hers in Chilmark, with whom she
taught art at the Martha's Vineyard Public Charter School, gave
birth to a baby daughter at the Martha's Vineyard Hospital. She
represents one of at least five up-Island couples in their 30s who have
had babies or are expecting to later this winter.

"I think it speaks to the feeling many of us have that
it's a nice place to raise children," Mrs. Christy said of
the mini up-Island baby boom. "There's an impression of
Chilmark as a retirement community, but I don't know if
that's true."

With the highest average property values in the commonwealth,
housing is obviously a major concern in town. Mrs. Christy acknowledged
that she and her husband are lucky they can rent a home for an
affordable price from her parents. But she noted that the widespread
desire among Island residents to own their own homes is somewhat
unrealistic when compared to the rest of the country.

"Buying isn't all it's cracked up to be,"
she said. "A lot of people rent their whole lives in other places,
and don't seem to have second thoughts about it."

The inability to own their home is a trade-off she and her husband
are willing to make in order to live in a desirable location. They have
made similar sacrifices in their careers, and neither works full-time
because they both want to spend time at home with the children.

"We haven't had a lot of high-paying jobs, but
that's been a conscious decision," Mrs. Christy said.
"I think we're gaining a lot of value in being home with our
children, if you could put a dollar figure on that."

Unlike most couples their age, neither Mrs. Christy nor her husband
are involved in the typical Island trades - such as carpentry,
landscaping or gardening. Her husband works at the Granary Gallery in
West Tisbury, and for half the year commutes off Island at least one day
a week to take on additional hours as a graphic designer in Falmouth.
She said they have passed up higher paying trade jobs to work instead in
what she described as second-tier fields, and noted that she has found
great satisfaction in the public sector, first as a teacher, and then as
a librarian.

"If I'm going to be working 25 or 30 hours a week, I
want to do something that gives back to people," she said, sitting
in the historic old red schoolhouse that serves as the Aquinnah library.
"And I really love being in the library. The whole point of our
work is helping people learn and giving the community what it
wants."

Mrs. Christy said the small town library serves as a de facto
community center, and helps maintain a sense of place. Just the other
day, she said a group of women in their 80s and 90s gathered in the old
building to reminisce about their shared childhood memories.

Personally, Mrs. Christy enjoys living in the same town where she
grew up. She appreciates being close to her parents, and the many
overlapping and evolving relationships she has developed with others
throughout the community. As a young girl, she went to the Chilmark
School with the son of the current preschool director, who is now
watching her son on a daily basis.

"When you grow up in a small community, there are a lot of
advantages to staying," she said. "It's very
comforting to be surrounded by family, and other people in town
you've known for years. It's something I've really
valued."

Mrs. Christy admits that she and her husband have talked about
moving away, possibly to Vermont, where her twin sister has settled. But
so far, whenever they weigh the difficult aspects of the Vineyard with
the advantages, they always conclude that staying on the Island is worth
the sacrifices.

"We all make choices," Mrs. Christy said, as a pair of
young boys entered the library and started browsing the children's
section. "We all have to balance these things."

The Martha's Vineyard Commission is soliciting comment from
the public for its Island Plan, a two-year project to develop a 10, 20
and 50-year comprehensive plan for the Vineyard. For more information,
visit Islandplan.org or call the commission at 508-693-3453.