Attracting and retaining residents — especially young people and professionals — is key for the future of rural communities
Monica and Robert Hatch love living in Ellsworth, Wisconsin. For more than 11 years, they have enjoyed their tight-knit community and its proximity to both the Twin Cities and the beautiful countryside. But as retirees, they were struggling to afford their home. They wanted to downsize.
“It was already hard enough for us to make the house payment with electricity, the gas, water and one thing breaking after the other,” Monica Hatch said. “We’re at an age that keeping up (our house) and wanting to sell it in good standing was becoming a little bit more difficult for us.”
When they started looking for a new place to live in Ellsworth, a community of about 3,300 people, they came up empty....
Leo’s notes: While eight units alone won't solve Door County's housing shortage, converting underutilized downtown spaces into housing creates new opportunities without requiring additional land or major infrastructure investments. As communities across Wisconsin search for attainable housing solutions, adaptive reuse projects like this offer a practical model for adding housing while strengthening downtown business districts and preserving community character.
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- - Volume: 26 - WEEK: 23 Date: 6/1/2026 2:25:18 PM -