notes from Compiled Community Survey results
As part of the Horizons Visions program, Maddock developed two Community Survey forms, one for the general adult community members, and anotheer specifically for the 9-12 grade students at the High School. The material below is the general adult community member analysis.
In October 2007 the Maddock Horizons Program released a public Community Survey on our Future. Of the 315 Adult Survey forms picked up by residents, 121 were completed and returned. The Adult Survey was divided into 6 headings, Demographics, Future Development, Local Business Indicators, Housing, Occupations, and Cultural & Recreation Services. Cultural & Recreation Services is not included in this analysis because the Compiled Survey data is so explicit.
The results of this Survey, and the related High School items were considered as part of the process in developing the just completed Vision Statement for the Maddock Horizons Program.
In summary, the key points developed from the Survey responses are the listing of pressing problems facing Maddock today, in priority order.
#1. Availability of jobs
#2. Wages and salaries
#3. Out migration of young people
#4. Health care quality and/or availability
#5. Housing availability and cost
#6. Diversity of retail business
THE FOLLOWING ANALYSIS IS PRESENTED IN HEADING ORDER. THE STATISTICS ARE BASED ON THE NUMBER OF RESONSES TO EACH ITEM. SOME RESPONDENTS DID NOT ENTER A RESPONSE TO EVERY ITEM.
DEMOGRAPHICS
50% of the respondents live in Maddock
49% of the respondents live on farms outside Maddock
1% of the respondents live in other communities within 25 miles of Maddock
60% of these respondents are 51 years or older, and only 3% are 25 years or younger
79% of these respondents have lived in this area for at least 15 years59% of these respondents live in one/two person households FUTURE DEVELOMENT The question was “is it important to attract new members to our community.” The responses were 118-1, yes. Of the 112 that responded to the question of the desired demographics of the new members, just over half favored “young families 25-40,” and slightly less than half favored “an even mix of young, middle-aged and seniors. Please refer again to the ages of the current respondents in the Demographics section to recognize the significance of this response.
FUTURE DEVELOMENT-continued
The follow-up question is “how many new people could we integrate over the next 5 years.” 80% of the 74 responses on this item indicated that we could integrate 50-100 new people into the community.
The next series of questions address the amenities of the City in regards to our efforts to entice new people to move here. The following all had a significant majority of responses suggesting “needs improvement.”
102-10 “ current availability of hotel, motel rooms in the Maddock area.”
91-23, “recreation services”.
91-22 “retail shopping opportunities and 87-23 for ”entertainment services.”
82-27 “tourism support,” and 80-30 for “Cultural, Fine Arts support.”
72-42 “housing support.”
Two Survey items were directed at responding to the needs identified previously by the Maddock adult community in the medical services and technology areas. Each item had a significant “yes” response.
97-13, Was the response to support a City program providing stipends for medical students in key professions to complete their education/training, if they signed a contractual agreement to open services in the Maddock community for a period of time.
94-10, Was the response to support a City program providing stipends in the Trades Industry programs to students to complete their training, if they signed a contractual agreement to open services in the Maddock community for a period of time.
35-24, yes, in the response to the same questions on the Maddock High School Student survey concerning medical programs
28-30, no, in the response to the same question on the Maddock High School Student Survey concerning the Trades Industry.
The response to the question, “if we don’t experience the growth population with its attendant increase in retail business and services, how would you rate the community’s ability to do the following. Use “good” or “poor” for the rating.
109-2, poor, to “retain our young people after High School.”
83-26, poor, to ‘maintain retail business
68-47, poor, to “maintain a viable school system.”
64-46, poor, to “maintain community services
LOCAL BUSINESS INDICATORS
The Survey asked respondents to identify what they purchased out of town that is not available in town. The top five items are:
1. Clothing
2. Dental care
3. Medical services
4. Hardware supplies
5. Building Supplies, Specialty shops (tie)
The Survey asked respondents to identify the main reasons for purchasing goods and services out of town that are available in town.
41% responded, “had to go out of town for other reasons
43% responded equally “cost or variety”
7% responded “quality”
The leading local businesses and services with customer contact during the week.
Contacts Business/Service
294 Tracy’s Market
151 Maddock Café and Lanes
147 Farmer’s Union Oil
144 North Start Community Credit Union
93 The Bread Box
66 White Drug Store
62 Maddock Mini-Mart
HOUSING PROGRAM
To the question of “considering retirement in Maddock if satisfactory housing is available, 70% responded yes.
To the question of the “quality of the housing in Maddock,” 61% indicated “needs improvement’
To the question of “willingness to invest funds in the development of housing in Maddock,” 3% responded “yes, 67% responded “no”, 30% responded “maybe”
Currently, 59 of the responding High School students live within 25 miles of Maddock, with 19 of those living in Maddock
Responding to the question if they intended to continue to live in the area within 25 miles of Maddock after graduation, 27 students selected “yes,” with only 6 indicating they would live in Maddock.
HOUSING PROGRAM-continued
83% of the adult respondents currently reside in a single-family dwelling-multiple bedroom, and 8% in an apartment or duplex location.
When responding to a question about the preference to retirement living,
55% selected a single-family dwelling-multiple bedroom
20% selected apartment, duplex or 4-plex locations as preference in retirement living
21% selected senior or assisted-living locations as a preference in retirement living
OCCUPATIONS
When replying to the question of “do you feel the pay rate and benefits in Maddock are sufficient to keep you working in our area?
60% replied “no”
When replying to the question of ‘do you feel the pay rate and benefits in Maddock are sufficient to draw people to our community to work?”
79% replied “no”
When replying to the question of ‘do you feel more jobs for women in the Maddock area will be a major asset in the number of people patronizing local businesses?”
81% replied “yes”
4-“yes”, 34- “no”, 24 “don’t know”, was the response in the High School survey to the question “do you expect that there will be a job, or combination of jobs, in Maddock to meet your income expectations.”
11- “yes”, 13- ‘no”, 31- “don’t know”, was the response in the High School survey to the same question as above, with the job area widened to the area within 45 miles of Maddock.”
The Table on the next page the identifies the priority community needs by “employment area” over the next 5 years in order of ranking from each group, not the number of jobs. The highest “priority” item is #1, the lowest, #15. The Adult column represents the respondents’ estimate of the “areas of employment” that need to be offered and filled over the 5-year period. The High School column represents the employment areas in which “I expect to find a job.” There is a significant difference in the priorities of the two groups.
OCCUPATIONS-continued
PRIORITY RANKING- 1 thru 15
AREAS OF EMPLOYMENT ADULT HIGH SCHOOL
Heating-plumbing-electricity *1 7
Resturant & food service *2 14
Health care *3 *1
Home/care giving *4 –
Retail & sales *5 –
Manufacturing 6 13
Agricultural support 7 *4
Constructions trades 8 12
Education-teacher 9 7
Business 10 *3
Office 11 11
Education-support 12 –
Farming 13 *2
Transportation 14 –
Tourism 15 —
Law Enforcement – *5
Art-design-crafts – 6
Law – 7
Music-Theater – 7
Hospitality – 15
High School #7 was a 4-way tie