Transcript for the Piece Audio version of Two Cape Cods: Hidden Poverty on the Cape and Islands - Part 20

It's summer on Cape Cod, the beaches are open, the tourists have arrived and the stores are bustling. But when the cooler months return, things will change. There'll be both less traffic and fewer jobs, and the struggle of the Cape's working class will continue.

This story is the final installment of our series Two Cape Cods: Hidden Poverty on the Cape and Islands.

Thirty-four-year-old Amy Trowbridge thought she knew what she was getting into when she moved to the Cape six years ago to live with her retired mother in Yarmouth. She visited here in the summers as a child, so she figured she had a good sense of what life would be like living on Cape year-round. But she was wrong.

Amy Trowbridge: "I've lived pretty close to poverty for awhile. I mean, I haven't made enough money to live out on my own for some time. Sometimes it's been hand to mouth, financially. I've had to find creative ways to do basic things like fill the tank in my car or buy groceries or even go to the dentist."

Trowbridge arrived on Cape with qualifications: a masters degree in creative arts and learning and elementary ed, as well as a desire to work hard and enjoy everything the Cape has to offer. What she found when she got here was a seasonal tourist and retiree-driven economy with low-wage jobs and high-priced housing. For Trowbridge, life has become a daily struggle.

Amy Trowbridge: "At one point I had been working three part-time jobs to pay my bills off, and I did that for about a year, and I had one day off and it was completely exhausting. I was tired all the time, I never had time for my family, I never had time to go out and have fun. Pretty much, it was just all work, and on the day off that I did have, I would sleep to catch up."

For year-round Cape Codders, there's nothing remarkable about Trowbridge's story. The region's economy is defined by tourists and retirees, and there are few industries on Cape that pay a year-round, livable wage. And it's been that way for generations. What's relatively new to the mix is the high price of housing here. 40-year-old Ian Bowles is the president of MassInc, a nonprofit, nonpartisan think tank that focuses on the challenge of achieving the traditional American Dream in Massachusetts. Bowles also grew up in the village of Woods Hole, and he says that because of low wages and other factors, the Cape is experiencing a hollowing out of the middle class, and on the road ahead, he expects the trend will continue.

Ian Bowles: "People's image of Cape Cod, you know, the Kennedy's playing touch football on the beach or whatever it is, that is not really the Cape Cod that's out there on a year-round basis. Many areas of the Cape, it's pretty quiet in the wintertime and people have struggles, economic struggles."

MassInc's research confirms that big changes are underway on Cape Cod, where older retirees continue to flock, while young adults look to flee. The result, Bowles says, is that town issues and decisions will increasingly be made by the oldest generations, who may not be inclined to build new schools or fund programs that support younger people and families.

Ian Bowles: "As a community becomes increasingly and increasingly retirment focussed, younger people moving out, it is harder and harder to overcome the outlook that we don't want to add anything new. Our challenge is in terms of adding housing, affordable housing, workforce housing, attracting young poeple, getting them to stay here, they become harder and harder, as we continue to succeed, in quotes, say, at attracting these many retirees to be here."

People who retire here are one of the largest drivers of the area's economy, and that is not something those who pay attention to the region's economics want to change. Dan Drey is the administrator of the Economic Development Council of Barnstable County, one of several groups working to attract higher-paying jobs to the region. He says as the baby boomers retire, the expectation is that retirees will continue to come here and support small, retail businesses, use the banks and hospitals, and employ local tradesmen. But the arrival of more retired people is not expected to help attract new industries that pay higher wages to working families.

Dan Drey: "It's hard to see retirees being responsible for marine science and technology taking off. It is easy to see retiremetn being responsible for more jobs in the healthcare arena, which is one of the positive points of our economy down here."

One of the major impediments to attracting new industries to the Cape is housing. It's estimated that a family of four needs to make more than One Hundred Thousand Dollars a year in order to afford a median-priced home on Cape right now. That's a tall order for most families. Unless the region undergoes a major economic shift, which is not expected, for middle class locals, Bowles says the future on the Cape may be more of the same.

Ian Bowles: "There is so much to love about Cape Cod. However, I think for those who grew up here, trying to make a living here and piece it together, I think it is harder and harder."

For people who can afford it, life is good on Cape Cod. The concern is, that as young people and families continue to leave, it will grow more difficult for the more affluent people to find house keepers, home health aides and town employees. For the younger generations, the price of living in paradise is getting too high. And if living the American Dream means getting married, buying a house and raising a family, Cape Cod may no longer be a viable place to do it.