The reality is that SoWal is now an upscale community and I don't think it will ever go back to what it was. So, it will continue to be expensive to live, vacation, and eat here (though there are still some great vacation opportunities at reasonable prices). People can still have a wonderfully inexpensive vacation here if they visit here during the off-season. You can rent a nice new 3 bedroom place a 5 minute walk from a gorgeous beach for well under $1000/week in the winter and not much more for a month in the winter -- just look on VRBO to see all that's available in the fall/winter. People can enjoy the many free things around here (e.g., beaches, nature, parks, free concerts/movies), cook/eat at home rather than go out to eat, are willing to double-up in their accommodations (not everyone needs a private bedroom), and find good meal bargains in the area (e.g., dining early in the winter, take-out, lunch specials, etc.). And this would still be quite the luxurious vacation.
Kimmifunn, I like your perspective. While I agree that raising the minimum wage would be the-right-thing-for-our-society-to-do, this situation can be viewed from multiple angles. And your angle is a useful (and I suspect pretty common) one, not only for SoWal but for other upscale areas, especially on the coast). We can hope that there will always be young adults who are willing to work jobs in funn/beautiful locations just to be in these locations for a while. And creative people who are really motivated to be here will figure out how to live here (e.g., sharing costs, eating mac and cheese) while working here and having funn here. It won't be easy, but a lot of good things aren't easy to achieve. That's what makes it so worth it when you get them. Those of us who use the services of people who work in this area will want to encourage them to keep working here by tipping well and being kind and encouraging.
It is indeed difficult to be in a situation in which you don't have the skills to make more than minimum wage (been there, done that). Yet many people in this situation don't think of themselves as "poor souls" and think it's creepy that other people think of them that way. That said, if we can't in the short term raise minimum wage, then we can look for other ways to help people who are living the mininum-wage life. Most people, including some people on this board and/or who have property in SoWal, aren't born into wealth or even middle class incomes and have learned valuable lessons from that experience.
So, in addition to worrying about minimum wage, we can actually take actions such as giving money to organizations that support education (e.g., college) for people who otherwise wouldn't be able to attend college. We can support community colleges in the area that open doors for many people who would otherwise continue to have minimum wage jobs. We can give our time to institutions that help people build skills and that provide support. We can help the teachers in the public schools give young students the best education possible a chance to see the opportunities that are available, and the skills to achieve their goals. We can volunteer our time in a neighborhood school so that teachers have time to teach. We can teach someone how to read. We can volunteer to coach a team of kids. We can send our kids to day cares with a sliding fee scale so that children at different income levels can get good day care and are exposed to all different kids of people. We can support our public schools by sending our kids to them. We can identify young people who are highly motivated and encourage them -- often a bit of support and advice from others is a stepping stone to a better future (even if the minimum wage isn't raised).
So, my point would be that while we're waiting for minimum wage laws to be changed, there are many other things each of us can do personally to (1) help people who are currently living on minimum wage and (2) find and encourage people who are willing to work in SoWal.
