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

Home

Participation Are the residents of Ramsey connected to the community and each other? An engaged community harnesses its most valuable resource, its residents. The connections and trust among residents, government, businesses and other organizations help to create a sense of community; a s h ared sense of membership, belonging and history. Compared tooth er communities, fewer residents of Ramsey rated the sense of community as excellent or good (46 %). Still, thevast majority of residents said that they would recommend living in Ramsey and had plans to remain Iivingthere. The survey included almost 20 activities and behaviors for which respondents indicated how often they participated in or performed each, if at all. Overall, measures of Participation varied in relation tot he benchmark. Areas where resident participation and experiences rated better than elsewhere were in Natural Environment (recycling), Safety (fewer residents had reported acrime) and Built Environment (fewer residents experienced housing cost stress). Although similar tot he benchmark, the rate of purchasing goods or services, visiting Qty parks, being in good health and voting were high and nearly all residents reported that they had not been the victim of a crime. Most of the measures where Participation fell below the norm were under Community Engagement for campaigning, volunteering and attending public meetings. Under Economy, residents of Ramsey were less likely to work in the City where they lived than residents of other communities. Sense of Community Excellent Good 6% 40% Poor 10% Fair J 45% Percent rating positively (e.g., very / somewhat likely, yes) Comparison to national benchmark ■Higher ■Similar Lower Recommend Ramsey Remain in Ramsey Contacted Ramsey employees