Cape May County’s year-round population continues to shrink even as its tourism industry posts record numbers.
The county lost 2.5 percent of its population over the past five years, down to 94,727 in 2015, according to U.S. Census figures.
Economists and county officials say the high price of homes in the area combined with comparatively fewer year-round jobs is keeping newcomers out and prompting recent graduates to look elsewhere for work.
“You can definitely notice the drop in population,” said West Cape May resident Jim Labrusciano, who owns the Albert Stevens Inn.
“I’m somewhat alarmed because the people buying houses are not becoming year-round residents. And they’re the only ones who can afford it,” he said.
Freeholder Director Gerald Thornton said the county is losing young families.
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“We can see it in our school systems. We have the first- or second-highest winter unemployment rate in the state. We have a booming tourism economy, and for five months there’s plenty of jobs and everyone is working,” he said. “But we don’t have that wintertime employment.”
Meanwhile, the county’s shrinking residency pool is forcing towns and school districts to adapt.
For example, West Cape May Elementary School was considering merging with neighboring districts when its enrollment dropped to just 36 students in the mid-2000s.
Its enrollment has rebounded since joining the School Choice Program, which allows parents to send their students to schools outside their home districts.
“It’s been our salvation to have the choice students here, because the state funds them,” Superintendent Alfred Savio said.
The kindergarten-through-sixth-grade school this year has 88 students, 40 of whom live outside West Cape May. The smaller enrollment has its advantages, Savio said.
“It’s a single-school district, so we’re very small. We have small class sizes, so the students get a lot of individual attention,” he said.
Teachers are quicker to identify students who need extra help, he said.
Now, the district has rebounded to the point where it might move a pre-kindergarten program to a classroom trailer.
“We never thought we’d be victims of our own success, but we are. Now we’re looking at space issues,” he said.
Labrusciano said as a result of the population declines, local businesses have a harder time recruiting employees.
But the borough has plenty of civic and social clubs in the winter, he said.
“Everyone knows everyone else here. There are a lot of social activities. If you want something to do, there are plenty of choices,” he said.
Ironically, the county’s tourism industry has never been better, despite fewer year-round residents to support it. The county has posted 4 percent annual growth in recent years, generating a record $6 billion in revenue last year.
“It sort of feeds on itself,” said economist Richard Perniciaro, vice president of planning, research and facilities at Atlantic Cape Community College.
The county’s economy is supported by tourism, public-sector jobs and, to a much smaller extent, commercial fishing.
“The tourism industry gets better and better, but that has repercussions on other industries and the county’s ability to attract them,” he said.
Resort-driven property values are unaffordable compared with other places, which drives up the cost of business, he said.
“Housing is expensive. That’s a reason for a business not to set up here. Employees want to get paid more money to live here. It all feeds on itself,” he said. “There has to be something that changes the pattern. I’m not sure what that’s going to be.”
Freeholder Will Morey, president of Morey’s Piers in Wildwood, said Cape May County is seeing the same shrinking pains as other resorts on the East Coast.
He said resort towns should embrace the reality of today’s economy instead of pining for bygone days.
For example, Wildwood’s downtown business district once stretched the length of Pacific Avenue. Now, this corridor is becoming increasingly residential.
But Morey said the contraction is a rational response to the shrinking year-round population.
“The worst thing we could do is try to go back to what we were. Pacific Avenue is not coming back,” he said. “We’re going to see more residential construction and less retail and restaurants.”
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