Agenda - Parks and Recreation Commission - 01/08/2015

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Community Characteristics What makes a community livable, attractive and a place where people want to be 2 Overall quality of community life represents the natural ambience, services and amenitiesthat makefor an attractive community. How residents rate their overall quality of life is an indicator of theoverall health of a community. In the case of Ramsey, 82% rated the City as an excellent or good place to live. Respondents' ratings of Ramsey asapI ace to I ive were simi I ar to ratings in other communities across then ation. In addition to rating the City as a place to live, respondents rated several aspects of community quality including Ramsey as a place to raise children and to retire, their neighborhood as a pl ace to live, the over all image or reputation of Ramsey and its overall appearance. Most residents felt that the overall appearance of Ramsey, Ramsey as a place to raise children and their neighborhood as a place to live were excellent or good. Although a majority felt that this was true of Ramsey as a place to retire and of Ramsey's overall image, these were less than the benchmark. Delving deeper into Community Characteristics, survey respondents rated over 30 features of the community within the eight facets of Community Livability. Safety and Natural Environment were the facets with the highest ratings, with at least 8 in 10 residents giving positive ratings to each measure in these categories. Conversely, Economy was the facet having the lowest ratings; every item in this area received positive rat ingsfrom half or fewer of residents. Overall, most Community Characteristics rated similarly tooth er communities. Of the seven measures with ratings lower than the benchmark, five related to Ramsey's Economy. Two characteristics of the community rated higher than the benchmark and were in the area of Built Environment: affordable quality housing and housing options. Place to Live Excellent 22% Ilk Poor 0% 'I Good Fair 60% 17% A Percent rating positively (e. g., excellent/ good) Comparison to national benchmark ■Higher ■Similar Lower 51% 51% Overall image Neighborhood Place to raise children Place to retire Overall appearance