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Posts tagged ‘local perspectives’

Q&A with local official Johnette Isham on the findings in Bradenton

In addition to publishing thoughts from our program directors in the 26 Knight communities, we’re also reaching out to other local civic leaders. These remarks come from an email interview with Johnette Isham, Executive Director of Realize Bradenton.

What jumped out at you from the results of the study?

WOW, the Soul of the Community survey results are a major point of pride for the Bradenton area. Not only does the Bradenton Metropolitan Statistical Area have the distinction of the highest overall community attachment score in 2009, the two-year results showed a "significant increase in residents' passion and loyalty for their community." From 3.79 in 2008 to 4.03 in 2009 is impressive since Gallup saw little overall change in community attachment in the 26 cities between 2008 and 2009.

Perhaps the major community engagement in the Realize Bradenton cultural planning process this past year helped to fuel the sense of connection people are feeling (although a direct causality is not indicated). Now that I have been on the job 10 days as the new Executive Director of Realize Bradenton (which grew out of the cultural planning process funded by the Knight Foundation), I have experienced a great sense of pride and enthusiasm in Bradenton mingled with “wait and see” anticipation.

I am a strong believer in the sentiment expressed by Peter Drucker that “the ageless essence of leadership is to create an alignment of strengths in ways that make a system’s weaknesses irrelevant.”

Positive image, positive action. So the opportunity now for us is how to build on the Bradenton’s Soul of the Community results and strategically communicate to the various segments of the community its strengths, accomplishments, and the near-term plans for Realize Bradenton. This requires a coordinated strategic communications plan of key messages, information sharing, and multiple venues for dialogue (electronic, print, events, word of mouth). I will be discussing this initiative with the Downtown Development Authority (DDA) and the Realize Bradenton Board in the near future.

What do you consider to be the key takeaways from the findings?

This two-year study underscores the power of place and social connections to build economic development outcomes. Citizens who are attached to their community spread the word to prospective residents and tourists. Citizens who are proud become more engaged and informed. It produces results like the Jim Collins “Good to Great” flywheel—“success breeds support and commitment, which breed even greater success, which breeds more support and commitment—round and around the flywheel goes. People like to support winners!”

Do the findings reinforce the value of any local initiatives?

The Soul of the Community (SOTC) results will help Realize Bradenton build its relationship with:

Bradenton Area Convention & Visitors Bureau (CVB): For the first time the CVB has set aside a pool of funds from the tourist tax to promote arts and culture. SOTC positions Bradenton in a very positive light and the SOTC information has already be sent to the CVB. CVB has secured newspaper coverage on downtown Bradenton from a reporter from the Boston Globe in October 2009. I have passed on the SOTC results to the reporter and hopefully SOTC will be cited in the article.

The Manatee Chamber of Commerce: Mike Kennedy, the Executive Director of DDA and Board member of Realize Bradenton, is attending the chamber’s Leadership Retreat this month and the survey SOTC survey results may provide information on the relationship of economic outcomes to Community Attachment, as well as a road map of findings to help guide business-culture undertakings.

Development of the our next grant to the Knight Foundation: As indicated in SOTC, opportunities for greater engagement are residents who are younger, single and non-employed (including students). As indicated in SOTC, older, long-term, retired and higher educated residents have a strong connection to the Bradenton area and we will find additional ways to engage these segments in Realize Bradenton’s planning and implementation. What I am excited about is that this multi-year study will allow us to measure the progress of our efforts over time using behavioral economic measures.

What questions does the study raise for you?

How can the Net Promoter methodology and an e-survey tool interface with the Soul of the Community and be pilot-tested in Bradenton? I am interested in the Net Promoter concept introduced in 2003 in a Harvard Business Review article, “The One Number You Need to Grow.” The idea is that companies (and cities) should strive to create more “Promoters” and fewer “Detractors.”  Promoters answer affirmatively to the question: “How likely is it that you would recommend our company (our city) to a friend or colleague?” The Net Promoter score can be used to motivate an organization (a city) to become more focused on improving products and services for customers. With the power of the broadband to inform and engage customers and citizens, I wonder how the Net Promoter e-surveys can be adapted for use in civic engagement. Based on my experience using this method in a major franchise, I think it holds promise for community building.

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Q&A with local official Debra Hensley on the findings in Lexington

In addition to publishing thoughts from our program directors in the 26 Knight communities, we’re also reaching out to other local civic leaders. These remarks come from an email interview with Debra Hensley, a community activist and insurance agent in Lexington.

What jumped out at you from the results of the study?

I am not surprised by the more positive responses relative to education. I am not surprised that we old people feel more attachment and loyalty to our community. I am not surprised by the perception our community is welcoming to (white) families.

What do you consider to be the key takeaways from the findings?

Passion is alive and well in this community; however, we must find ways to nurture, develop, and identify the passion that exists in those who feel the least connected and loyal to Lexington. It is one thing to love your community because it has a beautiful landscape, lots of team sports for the kids and spectators, or to be passionate about UK Basketball, horses, our KY bourbon. How about people who have other passions? How do we tap into the human desire to feel heard and to feel connected and thus a sense of belonging? Give people a voice and you will get plenty of passion. We need to listen more and talk less.

Lexington is a “polite” community. We do not like discourse and when we do, there is a sense of “us against them.” If we are open to the ideas, criticisms, dreams, and desires of the young adults who are most affected by this report, we will unleash a synergy of the collective that will create better results.

Do the findings reinforce the value of any local initiatives?

Yes, I believe the projects that are the most effective are those which have had a high degree of community engagement. Recent examples: The Lyric Theatre (finally it will happen), bike paths, Legacy Trail, Town Branch Trail, East End Small Area Plan (recommendations only, the challenge will be implementation).

What questions does the study raise for you?

I do believe this report underscores the tremendous opportunities for stakeholders, community leaders, and decision makers.

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Q&A with local official James Bennett on the findings in Columbia

In addition to publishing thoughts from our program directors in the 26 Knight communities, we’re also reaching out to other local civic leaders. These remarks come from an email interview with James Bennett, Executive Vice President and Director of Public Affairs for the First Citizens Bank in Columbia.

What jumped out at you from the results of the study?

I was pleasantly surprised to see education and social offerings as our strengths. However, after I peeled back the onion, I discovered that the strength of education was with the colleges and universities, and K-12 scored much lower. Another indicator was that colleges and universities scored very well, but after graduation, a large percentage of our young folk leave the state. Social offerings was another pleasant surprise. I think that the Vista, the entertainment center of the city, really paid off with the addition of the new baseball stadium, home of the Colonial Center and fabulous restaurants.

What do you consider to be the key takeaways from the findings?

I was interested in the comparisons of African-American views vs. Whites. Again, I was pleasantly surprised as to how closely related the views were. In many instances, African Americans were more positive about their community than Whites. For example, African-American perception of openness of the community to different groups was higher among African Americans than Whites. Civic involvement was higher among African Americans than Whites, including voting in the last election and leadership. However, when the question was asked if this is a good place for racial and ethnic minorities, the response was lower among African Americans. This is a real positive for our community. It is hard to find strong positive engagement across racial lines.

Do the findings reinforce the value of any local initiatives?

I would have to give credit to the local leadership over the years that had the vision to create an environment that was conducive for all people to have a good quality of life. This community has had organizations like The Luncheon Club, Community Relation Council, Seven-Thirty Breakfast Club and Columbia Urban League. We fought side by side to pass a plan to get African Americans elected to the city council. African Americans empowered themselves by voting in the capital city and getting elected to the school board. The school board appointed one of the first African-American superintendents. We continue to improve today with programs like Project Blue Print and Leadership Columbia. The colleges and universities play a major role. Education goes a long way to tear down barriers.

What questions does the study raise for you?

I was a little disappointed, but not surprised, to see the low Civic Involvement scores. As I mentioned earlier, African American scores are higher than Whites. What I also know is that our city government is composed of 3 White council members, 3 African Americans and a Mayor who is White but votes the majority of the time with the African-American members. We also for the first time in the history of the city have a great opportunity to elect the first African-American mayor. I hope that these signs of progress do not create a wedge of racial divide!

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Q&A with local official Robert Bush on the findings in Charlotte

In addition to publishing thoughts from our program directors in the 26 Knight communities, we're also reaching out to other local civic leaders. This is an email interview with Robert Bush, Senior Vice President for Cultural and Community Investment at the Arts & Science Council of Charlotte, N.C.

What jumped out at you from the results of the study?

The high ranking of aesthetics. We sometimes forget that this is a beautiful place to live both from natural and built perspectives. Visitors and newcomers frequently comment on this beauty – from the tree canopy, skyline, parks, public art, etc. and how Charlotte has done a much better job than other cities in attention to this critical part of making this an attractive place to live, work and play.

Did any of the Gallup findings surprise you?

No, in fact the Gallup findings mirror in many ways the findings of other studies done in the recent past.

What do you consider to be the key takeaways from the findings?

We can’t take anything for granted and there is critical work that still needs to be done.  We have made great strides in building a great city; however, we face challenges that still need our attention – real leadership (both political and civic); need for basic services (affordable housing, public transit); and social capital/openness (it is hard to live here if you are different – racial and ethnic minorities, gays and lesbians; singles).

Do the findings reinforce the value of any local initiatives and, if so, which ones?

Yes, there is a close tie between the findings and the Crossroads Charlotte effort that is working to address many of our deficits.

What questions does the study raise for you?

If we have known these are the issues that need to be addressed (and have heard it time and time again), why haven’t we had the civic will to address them?

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Thoughts on the findings in Lexington

Laura Williams is Knight's program director in Lexington.

I admit it. I don’t get out much.  At the end of the day, I tend to go home to my house in the suburbs.

But when the Blue Grass Community Foundation’s Legacy Center began their Legacy Trail logo campaign this summer with a table at Thursday Night Live, I found out something. Downtown was rockin'! And I liked being part of a community event that brought in people from all over town to share food, drink and music. And I was reminded what a great place Lexington is to live, and how much energy there is here.

The Knight-funded Soul of the Community study just released by Gallup talks about what drives attachment to one’s community – in other words, what makes you feel connected and passionate about your community. The strongest driver of attachment for the Lexington area was social offerings – places to gather with others and places for entertainment, followed by openness (sense of welcoming) and basic services (transportation, available healthcare, and affordable housing).

The report says that we want more opportunities to get together, and sends a message to leadership that this could be a key to keeping folks here. We are already seeing more entertainment venues downtown, a growing Gallery Hop and Thursday Night Live, and a booming and crowded Farmers Market. I believe we are going in the right direction, and the Gallup study provides data to show us why this is so important.

I know I feel part of something special in Lexington when I come downtown to the Farmers Market on Saturday morning, and see friends from across the city.   Let me know what connects you!

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Comparing the findings in Fort Wayne and Akron

Vivian Neal is Knight's program director in Fort Wayne and Akron.

Being the program director for both Fort Wayne and Akron, my first impulse is naturally to contrast the two communities to see how our study findings differ in each one. This year, I was surprised by how much the findings in both communities reflected one another. In both communities:

  • Residents' attachment to their communities is driven by social offerings, aesthetics, and openness, in that order.
  • Residents give high ratings to two beautiful systems of parks, playgrounds, and trails, as well as two top-notch higher education programs.
  • Openness and social offerings suggest opportunities for improvement.
  • The most attached residents tend to be 65 or older and widowed.

Given all these similarities, why is it that Fort Wayne comes in above average among all Knight communities for community attachment while Akron comes in below average?

The key ingredient for Akron to focus on seems to be basic services, especially the area's highways and freeways and affordable housing. Residents indicated that these features are important for their community.

That said, Fort Wayne should also continue working on new ideas and listening to organizations like the Young Leaders of Northeast Indiana and the Active 20-30 Club. The young college graduates are examining ways they can support Indiana’s Graduate Retention Program to combat Indiana’s brain drain with internship programs and other initiatives.

Both communities can take pride in having qualities residents cherish, and both communities must continue working to build on their strengths and address their opportunities.

I look forward to hearing your take on the findings in the study.

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Posted in Akron, Fort Wayne | 1 Comment »

Thoughts on the findings in Duluth

Polly Talen is Knight’s program director for Duluth.

I found myself not particularly surprised by the findings of the survey in the Duluth-Superior Area. It very much resonated with what I have seen over the past seven years since I joined Knight as its program director for Duluth. Community aesthetics are critical to resident attachment and the region's openness and welcoming to various demographics as well as its social offerings both need improvement.

In 2003 Knight intensified it work in the region by starting with a community listening exercise with community leaders that Knight sponsored with Professor Ned Hill. Those 45 interviews were my first up-close look at the region. Until that time Duluth was largely a place my family stopped to get gas and snacks on our way to Canada for our summer vacation. And given my parents hated wasting a moment of daylight in the Canadian wilderness, we were usually driving through at about 1 a.m. to get to Canada first thing in the morning.

So I began my Duluth-Superior journey of learning about this great place by listening to some of its most committed citizens articulate what they thought were the region's biggest opportunities and biggest challenges. Through this we identified the need to approach economic development regionally, to bring the private sector and new leadership to the table, to support building a culture of entrepreneurship, to make development transparent, predictable and civil and at the same time work hard to maintain the great aesthetics everyone so appreciates about the region. It was also recommended that more be done to create a welcoming community to both newcomers as well as graduates of the areas colleges and universities.

Lots of good things have happened over the past six years. To name just the ones in which Knight has been directly involved makes an impressive list: APEX was launched to provide support to area businesses; the Duluth community charrette was conducted and continues to work on its recommendations; the community foundation sponsored its Speak Your Peace Initiative and the Knight Creative Communities Initiative; Superior has taken a close look at development opportunities in its downtown; Northeast Entrepreneur Fund launched the Greenstone Group, a ten year initiative to accelerate entrepreneurship in the region; and updating the arcane zoning codes in Duluth is making progress.

And many other great things are in the works that I hope to learn more about that will impact both social offerings and openness, including efforts to identify specific spaces in both Superior and Duluth that would be part of new arts districts and launching of www.thedusu.com aimed at connecting young adults to one another and to the community.

Oh, did I mention that the youngest of the 45 leaders we interviewed was none other than Duluth’s mayor, Don Ness? He arrived looking even more youthful than his years in a tennis sweater and shorts. After he left we all said to ourselves, “He certainly has a great vision for the future of this region.”

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Thoughts on the findings in Saint Paul

Polly Talen is Knight’s program director for Saint Paul.

While Knight Foundation does most of its local work in Saint Paul and the East Metro, it is important to note that the survey covers residents in the 12-county Twin Cites metro area. That means we can use this data to make comparisons with some other large urban areas in the study - like St. Jose or Charlotte - but it won't help us make comparisons between Minneapolis and St. Paul or between the urban core and the surrounding suburbs.

We can make some comparisons between last year and this year's data, but I think it is even more interesting to compare what the data says with what you or I thought it would say and what we hope it will say in the future. Two of the key drivers of community attachment in the Twin Cities and most of the other communities studied were perceptions about both aesthetics and how welcoming the community seems to various demographic groups. These factors are certainly why I moved here 25+ years ago and they are key reasons I am still here.

It was my sense that the Twin Cities seemed open to newcomers in a way that Boston did not. I had gone to college in Boston and in my summer jobs and internships I felt like I needed to have come over on the Mayflower or at least be the chief elevator operator's sister-in-law to feel like I could fully participate in the community. I was an outsider. Yet in the Twin Cities it felt like anyone could get a start here. With its legendary commitment of corporations and government institutions to the community it seemed the perfect place for someone fresh out of business school to get their start in the community and in a career. And other than missing the ocean (which I still do miss) the area's lakes, bikeways, and parks were well-preserved for the enjoyment of all. It was a community where residents cared about one another and that appeared to be committed to all its citizens.

We are still striving to be that community, but I think we have lost some ground. Interestingly the greatest drop from last year was the perception of how welcoming the community is to young college graduates. This might be a one-year anomaly given the economy and fewer new jobs - we will have to keep an eye on that in next year's study. Of even greater concern to me is how open and welcoming we are as a community to racial and ethnic minorities and immigrants. Do folks in those communities feel you can be full participants in community decision-making, in our educational systems, in health care, in the workforce? Our economic vitality as a community depends on it.

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Thoughts on the findings in Miami

Stuart Kennedy is Knight's program associate in Miami.

The sun is shining in Miami. Palm trees are swaying in the breeze. The ocean is that pure, clear blue that mid-westerners dream of in their tropical vacation fantasies. It appears that Miami’s image as an urban tropical paradise continues to ring true with residents. It’s not surprising that aesthetics ranks at the top of the list for the most important components driving community attachment in Miami.

Amidst a devastating economic downturn, it is comforting to have evidence that an intrinsic characteristic, like the city’s physical beauty, is driving community attachment rather than something as fickle as the economy.

Along with aesthetics, social offerings remained one of the top three factors driving community attachment and nightlife was sited as the highest ranked aspect of social offerings. While the South Beach club scene remains a strong draw, the artistic community has seriously stepped it up in the last few years. Concerts, gallery openings, and a slew of other art-centric events are popping up on the calendar week in and week out. This is not just your annual, imported Art Basel. This is home-grown energy that is not confined to the few cooler months of the year. We are getting to a critical mass with the arts in Miami and residents are feeling it.

According to the study, the third most important driver, openness (how welcoming a place is) still needs some work. Miami does have the stereotype of being relatively unfriendly. However, we are chipping away at this problem as Miamians get out into their beautiful city to take advantage of the social offerings and start interacting with the multitude of diverse peoples that live here.

Miami is a unique and interesting place. Even though the majority of its residents were not born in the city, its innate charm will sneak up and grab you and before you know it, you’ll start feeling attached.

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Thoughts on the findings in Bradenton

Meredith Hector is Knight's program director in Bradenton.

It turns out that the worst economic crisis in decades is not a key factor in residents' passion and loyalty for their community.

The Soul of the Community study also found that of the 26 communities surveyed, residents of the Bradenton area (the Bradenton-Sarasota-Venice metropolitan statistical area) were the most emotionally attached to their community.

What does the economy have to do with our love of where we live? The study explores what community qualities influence residents’ passion for the place they call home. It then tries to understand how those feelings relate to indicators of community well-being such as local economic growth. In the Bradenton area the relationship between community attachment and GDP growth has increased since last year and is strong and significant (correlation =.431).

There are three main factors that bind residents to the Bradenton area: social offerings (opportunities and the environment to meet others), openness (how welcoming a place is) and aesthetics (the perceived beauty of the place).

Perhaps not surprisingly, the most attached residents are most likely to be older, long-term, retired and higher educated. The least likely to be attached are younger, single and non-employed (includes students, laid off) residents. There was a significant increase of community attachment for many demographic groups from year 1 to year two including older, higher educated, new and high income residents.

It’s great that overall residents of this region are so engaged but it seems we should analyze and document reasons for the improved ratings of important drivers and for increased attachment in key demographic groups. Perhaps we can look at ways to improve job satisfaction, engage new residents. Or maybe we can focus on welcomeness for college grads.

There’s plenty to learn and explore in this very rich data set. We’ll be starting an online conversation here so please click around, explore website, and feel free to post your comments here. If a virtual conversation isn’t enough I’d also encourage you to join us for a terrific discussion about the survey results and their implications for our community with Dr. Katherine Loflin at 5 p.m. Oct. 8 at the University of South Florida Sarasota-Manatee Selby Auditorium. Those interesting in attending should register by visiting www.sarasota.usf.edu/ippl or calling the event hotline at 941-359-4602. But let’s think collectively about what we might we do as a community to ensure this area is an attractive and vibrant destination where all of its residents want to live, work, visit and play.

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