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Posts in ‘Press’

From MSN: Selling a city's soul

At MSN's Real Estate site, MarketWatch's Amy Houk writes:

People like where they live for any number of reasons, but there are several standout qualities that ignite residents' passion for their communities — and how the area is dealing with the recession isn't one of them, according to a report released recently by Gallup and the Knight Foundation.

Residents are most attached to their communities when they have fun places to gather, there's a welcoming atmosphere and there are beautiful and green spaces to enjoy, according to the Soul of the Community survey. The study looked at 26 communities and surveyed a random sample of more than 10,000 people earlier this year.

Read more about the study at SouloftheCommunity.org.

Read the full story.

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The work of changing perceptions

Meredith Hector, Knight's program director in Bradenton, wrote an op-ed that was published in the Bradenton Herald this morning. Here's a taste:

Soul of the Community is a study of perceptions. Unlike the latest unemployment figures, we can change what people think and how they feel. That is why we can be experiencing one of the worst economic declines in recent memory, and still have a large percentage of residents who love where they live.

The economy is bad everywhere. Folks don’t appear to be blaming their financial troubles on where they live. Instead, there are other community features that drive people’s perception that the Bradenton area is a place they enjoy and recommend to others.

Luckily for us, these features also happen to be ones we can influence.

Two key features are perceived as community strengths in Bradenton: our social offerings (fun places to gather and meet people) and our aesthetics (the region’s physical beauty and green spaces).

But a third feature, openness — or how welcoming a place is perceived to be for different demographic groups — merits extra attention and work.

You can read the rest at Bradenton.com. Then come back and give us your thoughts.

Posted in Bradenton, Communities, Press | No Comments »

Project finds good in 'Soul of the Community' - BradentonHerald.com

From the Bradenton Herald:

Soul is a feeling, feeling deep within

Soul is not the colour of your skin

Soul is the essence, essence from within

It is where everything begins

So declares Van Morrison in “Soul” on his “Keep it Simple” album, released in 2008. That’s the same time the Knight Foundation launched its project to find the “Soul of the Community” in 26 cities, including Bradenton.

Finding the soul of anything doesn’t sound simple. Yet it truly is where everything begins. And if the research of this three-year project holds true, the Bradenton area has a tremendous core for its future.

It was with more than a bit of skepticism that I went to the University of South Florida’s Selby Auditorium last week for the official presentation of the project’s second-year results. Let’s see: recession, home invasions, unemployment, record murder rate. Those have been beating up on our community’s soul for months now. How in the world could those traits coexist with a good soul?

Read the rest at BradentonHerald.com.

Posted in Bradenton, Press | No Comments »

Residents say county lacks social offerings - CentreDaily.com

From the Centre Daily Times:

Most Centre County residents think they live in a beautiful place with a good university, but aren’t as happy with the area’s openness and social offerings, according to a survey looking at residents’ attachment to the area.

Gallup conducted the telephone survey of about 400 residents for the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation. It’s part of a larger project that includes surveys of 25 other communities where the foundation is active.

Marc Fest, vice president for communications, said the goal of the survey is to improve the quality of life in the communities. He said leaders can use the information when deciding where to invest resources.

Posted in Press, State College | No Comments »

Soul of the City - TheAtlantic.com

From Richard Florida in the Atlantic Monthly:

What determines the level of attachment people have to their communities? And how do those levels of attachment and community satisfaction affect local economies? These are big questions that cross the boundaries of urbanism, economics, sociology, and psychology.

For the past several years, the Gallup Organization, in partnership with the Knight Foundation, has conducted a substantial multi-community survey called "Soul of the Community." I worked on earlier versions of the survey and reported some results in my book Who's Your City? Here's a link to the study's website.

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Grand Forks a good example for us to follow - WinnipegFreePress.com

From the Winnipeg Free Press:

Grand Forks got a huge boost in confidence and prestige this week by ranking second-highest out of a group of 26 U.S. cities in a large survey gauging community attachment.

The purpose of the study done by Gallup and the Knight Foundation was to show the correlation between communities with strong community attachment (CA) scores -- essentially loyalty and passion for the community -- and those with the highest economic growth.

More research is to follow that organizers hope will show even more conclusively such loyalty and passion will actually create stronger economic growth in a community.

The findings are interesting and probably surprising to some. Who knew the good people of Grand Forks were as engaged and committed to their community as they are?

Posted in Grand Forks, Press | No Comments »

Hometown pride points to growth potential - Bradenton.com

From the Bradenton Herald:

Manatee County’s determination to diversify the economy and attract new business received a major boost this week. Bradenton’s top ranking in a Gallup study, funded by the Knight Foundation and entitled “Soul of the Community,” should help convince business prospects that this is indeed the right place to locate their enterprise.

Gallup surveyed 25 other American communities to identify the reasons why residents become emotionally bonded to their town. Thanks to a surge in community passion and loyalty in 2009, the Bradenton-Sarasota-Venice region scored highest of all for emotional attachment. The rise in ratings for three key factors fueled that score: our appreciation of local social offerings, the area’s natural beauty and our friendly and open nature.

Not even the sour economy, the worst in decades, could dampen our enthusiasm — even though unemployment took the top spot as the most important problem among survey respondents.

Posted in Bradenton, Press | No Comments »

Smaller U.S. cities generate more loyalty and passion - Gallup.com

From Gallup:

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- A new Gallup study of 26 American cities, conducted in conjunction with the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, finds that residents of smaller cities such as Boulder, Colorado, and Charlotte, North Carolina, are more likely to recommend their city as a place to live than residents of larger cities such as Philadelphia and Detroit. Overall, residents in Bradenton, Florida, were the most likely to recommend their city, while residents in Detroit and Gary, Indiana, were the least likely.

Posted in Overall Findings, Press | No Comments »

What keeps us here: Gallup study identifies Lexington's allure - SmileyPete.com

From Business Lexington:

LEXINGTON, KY - There is nothing like the validation of consensus, gathered scientifically, to reassure community leaders that they have been on the right track as they have invested uncountable hours, immeasurable brainpower and draining energies to the task of placing Lexington on course for competitive 21st century economic development.

Lexington residents rank "social offerings" (fun places to gather) as one of the most important factors in connecting them to their hometown, according to research conducted by the Gallup organization for the John S. And James L. Knight Foundation. Openness (how welcoming a place is) and basic services (community infrastructure) rounded out Lexington's top three assets in the view of its residents.

Posted in Lexington, Press | No Comments »

Detroiters’ emotional attachment increases, despite economy - CrainsDetroit.com

From Crain's Detroit Business:

A Gallup study released today found that residents’ emotional attachment to the Detroit area has actually increased slightly in 2009, in spite of the economy.

The Miami-based John S. and James L. Knight Foundation is funding a three-year “Soul of the Community” study in Detroit and 25 other areas where its founders owned newspapers.

Gallup has found a significant correlation between residents’ emotional connection to where they live and the GDP growth in those 26 communities.

Posted in Detroit, Press | No Comments »

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