CENTRAL NEBRASKA (By Russ Keen, American News) August 6, 2006 —  In some ways, Nebraska's Hispanic families of today reflect the way U.S. Caucasian families lived in the 1950s, said several people from Nebraska's beef-packing region.

Few Hispanic children go to day care because three or more generations often live in the same house; grandparents watch the kids while dads and sometimes moms work, said Douglas Witte, student services director for Norfolk public schools. Norfolk is still home to many Hispanics who worked at a beef processing plant that closed earlier this year in the town of 24,000.

At the other end of life, few elderly Hispanics go to nursing homes for any length of time because the culture's strong family values stress that children should care for their aging parents, said Jim DeBlauw, administrator of the elementary school in Schuyler, where Cargill operates a beef plant with about 2,500 workers. Most are Hispanics, townspeople say. Cargill declined to answer any questions about the plant.

The Latino lifestyle has implications for housing. Not only do multi-generations live together from birth to death in Hispanic culture; two or more siblings and their spouses and children might be under that same roof, too, along with the children's grandparents, DeBlauw said.

Perhaps ironically, such close family ties are illegal in Schuyler. A city ordinance says only one nuclear family can live in a single-family dwelling. The ordinance is not enforced, however, DeBlauw said.

"But these multi-family homes do bother some people in town," he said.

Aberdeen would be wise to review its single-family housing ordinances to see how they mesh with Hispanic values, Witte said.

"What is your definition of family?" he asked.

Aberdeen ordinance defines a single-family dwelling as "a building having one dwelling unit designed for or occupied exclusively by one family." And Aberdeen ordinance defines family as "an individual, or two or more persons related by blood, marriage or legal adoption living together as a single housekeeping unit in a dwelling unit, including foster children, domestic servants and not more than four roomers."

In other words, the blood ties of several Hispanic nuclear families living in one house would make everyone in that house one family, by Aberdeen's definition.

Blessing in disguise: Though generally illegal, such multi-family homes help ease the high demand for affordable housing in towns with beef processing plants. Providing such housing is the biggest issue facing Lexington, said City Manager Joe Pepplitsch.

"Start dealing with it now," he advised Aberdeen.

If every Hispanic nuclear family sought its own home, the problem would be magnified in Lexington. Townspeople said about 2,400 mostly Hispanic people work at a Tyson beef plant on the south side of town with 10,000 residents. Prior to the plant's opening in 1990, the town had about 6,000 residents.

"We cannot keep up with housing," said Vicki Gilpin, executive director of the Lexington Area Chamber of Commerce.

Schuyler Mayor Dave Reinecke echoed Gilpin.

"There is no way we are ever going to keep up with housing," Reinecke said.

Advice to Aberdeen: "Gear up now for affordable housing," said Jim Ferguson of Norfolk. He is director of business, industry and economic development for a 10-county region.

The demand for housing "grew and grew and grew" in Norfolk, he said. In mid-July, 235 homes were up for sale in Norfolk, Witte said. Before the Tyson plant closed in February, a house for sale was a rarity in the town of 24,000, he said. The city has approximately 10,000 homes, according to the Nebraska Public Power District.

Considering that Aberdeen has about 25,000 people, housing impacts would likely be less dramatic in Aberdeen than in these Nebraska towns if a beef plant with 500 workers opens in Aberdeen as proposed. In contrast, most Nebraska plants have at least 2,000 workers.

Property values: Aberdeen can expect to see some property values rise if a substantial number of Hispanics move to the city, said Larry Peters, a real estate agent in Schuyler.

Their presence in Schuyler raised the value of mid- to low-end homes and continues to do so, he said. The Hispanic culture has had little to no impact on the high-end housing market, Peters said.

Hispanics new to a beef plant town usually start by renting, Peters said. Once established, they start to think about buying, and frequently do, he said.

In Schuyler, "They are moving into the buy market big time," Peters said. And some of them can afford and buy $100,000 homes, DeBlauw said.

Like their Caucasian neighbors, Hispanics in Lexington save up for home ownership, Gilpin said.

"They have that dream," she said.

Also reminiscent of Caucasian lifestyles in the 1950s, males are dominant in Hispanic culture, she said. They are usually the main bread winners. If a wife works, the money she makes is usually saved, Gilpin said.

Sometimes the male of a family arrives in town by himself, with his family arriving later after he has started work at the plant and has found a place for his family to live, she said. Lexington maintains an emergency shelter that mainly serves these men who arrive alone, until they find a place to live, Gilpin said. The city also has a welcome center for new residents.

Aberdeen is in a position where it can learn from mistakes towns such as Norfolk have made in terms of failing to plan ahead for housing and other beef-plant impacts, said Michael Nolan, Norfolk city administrator.

"Learn from history," Nolan said. "Don't repeat it."