I'm a runner in Flagstaff (not professional, but former collegiate, once upon a time) and both my wife an I have actual career jobs in Flagstaff, which can be difficult, as there aren't many options, as Wejo mentioned, other than NAU and Gore. We don't technically live in Flagstaff, as we're outside of city limits, so I wasn't able to vote on this (even though my driver's license says Flagstaff, and I work, eat, play and essentially spend all of my money in Flagstaff). Unlike a lot of places I've lived, a lot of the population around the city don't technically live in any city... just unincorporated county. I generally think that a living wage for people working skilled labor is appropriate, but a $15 minimum wage for flipping burgers is flipping ridiculous. This will raise the minimum wage of unskilled, uneducated labor to that of emergency room techs, near that of underpaid AZ teachers, and above what graduate students at NAU make as teaching and research assistants. A lot of the people pushing for this are Flagstaff natives who refer to the town as "poverty with a view" and dont' particularly want to stay here, but state that they can't afford to move elsewhere. I dont' think they'll decide to move away now that they'll be making more. A coffee place I used to love closed in advance of the change, as their financials no longer seemed viable... I fear that a lot of local businesses may be overly strained by this. This is not San Francisco or NYC... $15 is preposterous for an absolute minimum for the guy behind the counter at Burger King who is going to to do a $h|tty job regardless.
That all being said, I love it here, and I'm not leaving.
As an aside, it will be on the ballot again in 2018... it is possible to get repealed, but we'll see.
