“I’d love to stay, but it seems out of reach” 

This is the first of a series of articles introducing you to some of the Cape and Islands residents who are threatened by the housing crisis.

Just like his father, Jake LaBranche grew up on Cape Cod and he’d like to stay here, but he’s not optimistic that he can.

A 2017 graduate of Nauset High School, where his father is a history teacher and his mother works in the front office, LaBranche studied biology and psychology at Middlebury College in Vermont. Since graduating in 2021, he’s lived at home.

He works as a brewer at Hog Island Beer in Orleans but is “looking for something more serious.” He’s taking graduate level courses online in renewable energy.

LaBranche has asked around about renting a place to share with friends. “It hasn’t made any sense to move out just because I’d be lucky to break even,” he said. “A lot of my friends lived here until the fall after we graduated college, and then they were done living at home and moved off-Cape. I don’t have many options for splitting the cost of a place with people I know.”

LaBranche, 25, mentioned a friend who’s 36. “He told me that when he graduated from high school, he was able to rent a house with two buddies.  He had the master bedroom, so he paid $600 and his friends each paid $400. That’s not realistic today.

“I feel like COVID sped things up, but seeing people move here from all over, it kind of cuts us off at the knees. When I drive through my hometown, I feel like 60% of the houses are empty in the winter. It’s all summer places, and that just drives prices up more. I feel a little bitter. I’d love to stay on the Cape, but it does seem out of reach.

“I’m considering applying for jobs all over the place. The only way I could see myself staying here is if I find a job that pays me well enough to stay. But I’m at the point where I’ve seen my friends from college live off Cape on their own for the past three years, while I’ve lived with my parents. It’s reached the point where I’m over that.”