Kevin KennedyEnterprise

ENTERPRISE — Kevin Kennedy has lived in Enterprise only about five months after living in Joseph for a year. He came here from Portland for his physical and mental health.

He no longer works after retiring as a chef specializing in Irish, British and Scottish food for over 25 years.

He came here with his wife, Micaela, who works at Head Start, and his son, Roman, who works at Safeway.

Kennedy said his favorite thing about Wallowa County is the peace and quiet here.

“Also, the lack of crime,” he said, adding that it’s quite different from Portland. “It’s like night and day. That’s actually why I moved from Portland. There was a murder and a shooting about five feet from my back door and that was it. I told my wife it’s time to go.”

As spring has just sprung, he’s looking forward to volunteering with the Wallowa Mountains Hells Canyon Trail Association.

“I’m looking forward to hitting the trailhead again,” he said.

We just switched to daylight saving time, but he’d prefer to do without the time change and stay on daylight time all year.

Kennedy doesn’t mind having a chain store like Dollar General come to the county.

“It gets taxed, it provides jobs and it gives people the opportunity to buy food at cheaper prices,” he said. “I know (prices) went up — it’s not a dollar any more, it’s a buck fifty or two dollars, but it still provides an opportunity for people who don’t have a lot of money to buy food.”

Kennedy acknowledges the need for more affordable housing in Wallowa County and has a solution.

“I believe in tiny homes,” he said of the homes that are usually about 400 square feet. “They did it in Colorado. That gave people a place to live in. … They actually started cleaning up and getting jobs and paying rent, even if it’s as little as $5 a month. They took pride in where they lived. … That’s what got me thinking, why couldn’t there be those tiny homes here? They could be in a trailer park, a village.”

Kennedy also has an idea of what people should know before moving to Wallowa County.

“Have a place to live and have a job,” he said. “That’s No. 1. There are places here, but they’re short-term rentals.”