Why young people stay — or leave

In the three-day Rural Slide series, the Wisconsin Center for Investigative Journalism explores rural population losses in three Wisconsin counties — and potential statewide solutions. Below, short profiles of some of the young people interviewed by the Center’s Lukas Keapproth and Mario Koran. We recommend viewing these slideshows using the full-screen option at the lower right of each one.

‘I’m a lifer’

Sonni Lauren, 31, is optimistic that family bonds and small-town roots will outlast economic insecurities in Iron County.

The transplant

Last November, 26-year-old veterinarian Diana Care moved from the west coast to Clark County seeking solitude. Now she says, “I just wish there was some other young people like me who I could hang out with.”

In limbo

Ryan Metz, a 22-year-old amateur baseball player from Marshfield, appreciates his home town and enjoys baseball. But he is still unsure of his future profession or where he’ll end up.

The seeker

Logan Carlson, a 27-year-old reporter for the Marshfield News-Herald, wants more than the opportunities he sees in small, surrounding communities. “I don’t know what keeps people there. It wouldn’t keep me,” he says. “Too ambitious.”