There's nothing to do in Brookings

Josie Failor, Elijah Quintero & Aidin Pope

April 3, 2024

Brookings has always been a place for the elderly, like people in their 50’s, 60's, 70’s. It first started as a vacation area where they could get away from big cities. The elderly didn’t end up needing things to do the same way that younger kids do.

When older people came here to settle down for retirement, they established places like churches and parks. The parks they made ended up getting ruined-- They didn’t end up having time or money to make more things for teens and younger kids to do in Brookings.

The teens did not know who to talk to in order to fix the problem. They didn’t think anybody would listen to what they had to say. 

As time went by, they started making other things like skate shops, little stores, restaurants, and more. The younger kids never ended up reaching out to adults for advice on talking to them to make Brookings equally a place for younger and older people.

”You would not want someone in their 40’s, 50’s, or 60’s deciding what it is for the teen and kids to do, so it's important to make contact with people in charge. Kind of like what you guys did, reaching out to myself and having us come in and talk,” Travis Webster, the Brookings Port Manager said.

More and more adults came into town, which made it difficult for the teens to talk to them. The younger kids didn’t end up trying much to talk to adults because they didn’t think they would hear them out and or let them talk. 

People used to and still do mess up the things the adults did end up doing for the younger age groups. People vandalized the things they made as well as people not voting for the entertainment things to add to Brookings and voting for the new housing or new workplaces. 

When the voting ended up happening, there would be options, but kids and teens didn’t find it fair they would never listen to what they had to say and almost always ignore the youth's thoughts for something new in Brookings. Teens have also brought up ideas for something everyone could possibly enjoy to make it equally something for everyone.

Multiple people have brought up the idea a couple times to add something new into Brookings, changing our public pool into an entertainment center, roller rink, arcades, etc. The adults normally disagreed, because how would that impact them and then instead go for the “better” idea.

For the youth it’s been hard to find something new to do so it ends up leading certain kids to smoking and drinking. More kids are getting in trouble.

In Brookings they are starting to understand what kids are wanting, like things to put into town. Recently they added a new arcade. More kids have been talking to adults to try and add new activities for younger age groups and younger adults. Teens have been talking to more adults recently.

Teens have been going towards drugs and alcohol, and drunk driving has been getting worse for teens over the years. Youth get bored with nothing to distract them. Hopefully the adults will hear the younger age group and young adults out with their problems.

Recently, kids and teens have been getting more depressed. Not having things for teens in Brookings has become a problem and is getting worse to this day. Kids are not as worried about this issue as much as the teens are.

"Brookings is a small town but the youth has only been asking for a couple things. So you guys need to speak up to figure out how we get there," Webster said.

The community has and will get better as time passes by for the youth. The more the younger age group continues to try and talk to and convince the adults the better the situation can and most likely will get. If all age groups work together as one it could be helpful. Any person that walks through Brookings can see that there is not much for the younger age group to do anything. Adults tell them that there are beaches and parks but that's all there is. Kids have even brought the idea that adding a new thing for the youth could help people get jobs while entertaining the youth.

Adding a new business would be helpful for any and all age groups. Teens and adults can get a new place to apply to a new business. If all went well there could be something for everyone else to do in Brookings. Even adding something simple would fix these problems.

The adults recently have been adding new buildings, there is not anything for teens though. Certain adults have given youth advice to talk to more people in the community to get the word through Brookings. I think adults are now starting to realize that kids have been needing something new in Brookings for all age groups to tell the issues it has been causing. 

There have been multiple meetings in the town of Brookings trying to add things to make the town both equally a place for kids, teens, adults, and the elderly. "what pulls our attention away is like I said when we don't hear from you guys. What do you guys want? Sometimes we don't know-- we need you," Webster said. 

When there are a lot of small businesses opening around the same time, some businesses may not make enough money to be able to stay open, and the owner may have to close. Also, the more kids that are born here, the more fun things like arcades and parks are going to be wanted more. As a kid in Brookings, after school all they can really do is walk around town or go home, because there is nothing fun to do here. 

Brookings is a small town, and that means that small businesses may close because of people vandalizing them, or just because the business isn't making enough money to be able to stay open. If teens and kids want more fun activities to be built in Brookings, then people are going to have to stop vandalizing buildings, because a business owner isn't going to keep their business open if their building is always being vandalized or having things stolen. 

People may not want to have a business here, because of the fact that people throw their trash everywhere, and leave their trash on the ground, and on the floors of businesses. If people help pick up trash around town, and stop leaving their trash everywhere, then there may be more fun things to do opening up here. 

If people really want to have Brookings be a fun place, they can help by picking up trash around town, or help fund businesses.

“You’re in a small area, so when we find something that's good, when you see the multiple businesses that have been here for a long time, its because they went through ups and downs. They have gone through goods and bads, and they have established a relationship with the community. This allows them to have their business withstand even the slower times. It's a difficult situation in a small town, keeping large activities open,” Webster said.

If people want more things to do in Brookings, then they could go talk to someone that works for the city council. If a business wants to figure out how to be able to stay open, then they could go talk to other businesses that have been open for longer to get tips and be able to learn how to stay open longer. Another way business owners can stay open longer is by talking to the community and getting feedback.

“It's a slow road. It's gonna take time, but dedication from people that are experiencing the problem will drastically help the future. We have a board where we accept public comments, along with other counties. Showing up, putting your name down, standing up, and just starting that conversation with your local leaders will help a lot. The mayor of Brookings, the city council, even starting with your teacher, asking what you can do to start something can get some form of progress going,” Webster said.

Those are just some of the ways you can get help from the city about there being nothing to do in Brookings.

Photo Credit: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Harris_beach_Brookings_Oregon_-_panoramio.jpg