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Show Survey results ficworable, public facilities needed Vernal is a nice place to raise a family, but needs improvement in some public facilities, revealed a five-man public survey team from Utah State University. According to Michael B. Toney, member of the USU team, the survey was to measure the viability, or ability of a community to identify and solve common problems of the community. The survey was also conducted in seven other communities: Panguitch, Richfield, Salina, Delta, Moab, Duchesne, and Roosevelt. 81 percent of the people questioned said that Vernal needs improvement in facilities for the youth. This figure compares to 49 percent who said one of Vernal's strengths is it is a good place to raise a family. Some of the community leaders present when the survey was presented, presen-ted, differed stating that Vernal has many facilities for the youth, naming ball parks, tennis courts, etc. The low opinion of public facilities could be due to Vernal's rapid growth, from 3,908 in 1970 to 7,000 in 1978, Toney explains. Immigrants require more from a community than the native people. Of the residents asked to identify their general perceptions of the community, com-munity, 66 percent rated Vernal as a good place to live in 1975 and 13 percent said it was excellent. In 1979, 57 percent rated Vernal as a good place to live and 14 percent said it was excellent. Vernal residents haven't changed much since 1975 in their feeling that Vernal is a good place to live, Toney said. The survey shows that Vernal residents prefer moderate population and economic growth to rapid growth. - In the opinion of the public, the effectiveness ef-fectiveness of local government improved im-proved by 17 percent, but 20 percent more saw a need for improvement in road maintenance and snow removal in 1979 than in 1975. Over 50 percent of the people questioned said opportunities for cultural activities in the area need improvement. Health facilities were viewed to have improved with 40 percent saying they need improvement compared com-pared to 65 percent in 1975. In community involvement, 91 percent said they would sien a petition, 76 percent said they would serve on a committee, 76 percent said they would give spare time one evening a week, and 50 percent said they would give two hours pay. All of these f,eilft, higher than the average of th ! communities surveyed 24 Der!,ei?l1 they would give half a day'V!? percent said they would act as 2' 11 man of a committee, and ft said they would agree to a j 1 local sales tax increase to community's problems. Ve " Combined evaluation by resii all eight communities showed it cent felt the youth facilities improvement in their communis 61 50 percent felt their community , good place to raise a family 54 felt road maintenance and removal needed improvement an!' percent were dissatisfied with I shopping facilities. The survey concludes that mfe context of population change tT ceptions of Vernal by resident h! become a little less favorable in years. "However, the overall nfe! Vernal remains very excellent L only three percent of the responrk! regarding it as a poor place to live - |
