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Survey of St. Lawrence County residents finds good opinion of education, health care, but shopping not so much

Posted 12/15/15

CANTON -- The Center for Community Studies at Jefferson Community College’s 2015 St. Lawrence County Survey of the Community shows most residents questioned rate education and health care …

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Survey of St. Lawrence County residents finds good opinion of education, health care, but shopping not so much

Posted

CANTON -- The Center for Community Studies at Jefferson Community College’s 2015 St. Lawrence County Survey of the Community shows most residents questioned rate education and health care relatively highly, and most say the colleges are good for the community.

But opportunities for shopping are not a favorite part of St. Lawrence County life.

The center will release the findings at the St. Lawrence County Board of Legislators meeting Monday night.

The survey, intended as an inventory of the attitudes and opinions of a representative sample of St. Lawrence County adult residents, measures people’s thoughts on quality of life issues such as work opportunities, quality of health care, and quality of education.

The county board’s public meeting is at 5:30 p.m. in the board chambers at 48 Court St.

Highlights of the survey include:

· St. Lawrence County respondents are very positive in their assessment of the “Overall Quality of Life” in the county, with 61 percent rating this as “Excellent or Good,” and only 9 percent rating as “Poor.”

· Respondents are most concerned with the “Availability of Good Jobs” locally, with 56 percent rating this community indicator as “Poor.” Similarly, when asked the largest issue at this time facing the nation the most common response is “Economy/Jobs.”

· However, when asked to “consider you or your family’s personal financial situation in the past 12 months” participants are more likely to indicate that this situation has “Gotten Better” (25 percent) as to indicate that it has “Gotten Worse” (18 percent).

· St. Lawrence County respondants are more satisfied than not with healthcare quality and access in the county with 58 percent rating “Healthcare Quality” as “Excellent or Good,” and 53 percent rating “Healthcare Access” as “Excellent or Good.”

· The K-12 education system in St. Lawrence County is very positively perceived by respondents with 65 percent rating this as “Excellent or Good” and only 5 percent rating it as “Poor.” Further, when asked whether “St. Lawrence County schools are adequately preparing the youth for the technology and economy of the future,” 51 percent agree while only 29 percent disagree with this statement.

· The higher education institutions in St. Lawrence County are perceived as having a tremendously positive impact on the county respondents. The most positively assessed community indicator among the 21 studied indicators is “Access to Higher Education,” with 78 percent rating this as “Excellent or Good.” Further, 94 percent of participants agree that the presence of the five colleges “improves the overall quality of life of residents,” and 62 percent report that the colleges’ presence has a positive effect on their “family’s employment or financial situation.”

· St. Lawrence County respondents appear to appreciate and embrace the rural nature of life in the county with “Quality of the Environment” and “Public Outdoor Recreational Opportunities” being the second and third most positively rated community indicators (73 percent and 67 percent, respectively, rated as “Excellent or Good”).

· “Shopping Opportunities” in St. Lawrence County are not at all viewed positively by respondents, with 49 percent rating these as “Poor” (the second most negatively perceived community indicator) and only 21 percent rating as “Excellent or Good.”

The primary goal of the survey is to collect data regarding quality of life issues of importance to local citizens, the surveyors said. A similar study has been completed annually by the Center for Community Studies in Jefferson County since 2000, and in Lewis County since 2007.

The sponsors of these annual surveys of the North Country communities are the Northern New York Community Foundation and the Development Authority of the North Country, who both provide financial support to assist in the funding of these projects.

Working under the supervision of the Center for Community Studies research staff, statistics students at the college completed 442 telephone interviews on both landline and cellular phones of St. Lawrence County adult residents on the evenings of June 29 and 30, resulting with an approximate margin of error of ±3.7 percent.

The entire survey, including a summary of the results and the complete survey instrument, will be available on Dec. 15 on the Center for Community Studies section of the Jefferson Community College website, www.sunyjefferson.edu/community-business/center-community-studies/annual-survey-community.

For more information, contact Joel LaLone, Research Director at the Center for Community Studies at Jefferson Community College, 786-2264.