Community Quality-of-Life Indicators: Best Cases

254 Pages·2004·8.204 MB·English

by  M. Joseph Sirgy, Don Rahtz, Dong-Jin Lee (auth.)

COMMUNITY QUALITY-Of-LIFE INDICATORS
Social Indicators Research Series
Volume 22
General Editor:
ALEX C. MICHALOS
University ofN orthern British Columbia,
Prince George, Canada
Editors:
ED DIENER
University ofI llinois, Champaign, U.S.A.
WOLFGANG GLATZER
J. W. Goethe University, Frankfurt am Main, Germany
TORBJORN MOUM
University of Oslo, Norway
MIRJAMA.G. SPRANGERS
University ofA msterdam, The Netherlands
JOACHIM VOGEL
Central Bureau ofS tatistics, Stockholm, Sweden
RUUT VEENHOVEN
Erasmus University, Rotterdam, The Netherlands
This new series aims to provide a public forum for single treatises and collections of papers
on social indicators research that are too long to be published in our journal Social
Indicators Research. Like the journal, the book series deals with statistical assessments of
the quality of life from a broad perspective. It welcomes the research on a wide variety of
substantive areas, including health, crime. housing. education. family life. leisure activities.
transportation. mobility. economics. work, religion and environmental issues. These areas
of research will focus on the impact of key issues such as health on the overall quality of
life and vice versa. An international review board, consisting of Ruut Veenhoven, Joachim
Vogel, Ed Diener. Torbjorn Mourn. Mirjam A.G. Sprangers and Wolfgang Glatzer, will
ensure the high quality of the series as a whole.
The titles published in this series are listed at the end of this volume.
COMMUNITY QUALITY-OF-LIFE
INDICATORS
Best Cases
by
M. JOSEPH SIRGY
Office of Quality-of-Life Measurement,
Pamplin College ofB usiness, Marketing Department,
Virginia Polytechnic and State University, Blacksburg, VA, U.S.A.
DONRAHTZ
School ofB usiness,
College ofW illiam and Mary, Williamsburg, VA, U.S.A.
and
DONG-JIN LEE
Department ofM arketing,
Yonsei University, Seoul, Korea
SPRINGER SCIENCE+BUSINESS MEDIA, B.V.
A C.I.P. Catalogue record for this book is available from the Library of Congress.
ISBN 978-90-481-6612-1 ISBN 978-1-4020-2202-9 (eBook)
DOI 10.1007/978-1-4020-2202-9
Printed on acid-free paper
AII Rights Reserved
© 2004 Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht
Origina11y published by Kluwer Academic Publishers in 2004
Softcover reprint ofthe hardcover Ist edition 2004
No part of this work may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted
in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, microfilming,
recording or otherwise, without written permission from the Publisher, with the exception
of any material supplied specifically for the purpose of being entered
and executed on a computer system, for exclusive use by the purchaser ofthe work.
This book is dedicated to all quality-of-life researchers worldwide
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Acknowledgements ix
Vital Signs: Quality-of-Life Indicators for Virginia's Technology Corridor
Terri Lynn Cornwell
The Sustainable Community Model Approach to the Development
and Use of Multi-Dimensional Quality of Life Indicators 29
William T. Grunkemeyer, Myra L. Moss
Taking Indicators to the Next Level: Truckee Meadows Tomorrow
Launches Quality of Life Compacts 53
Karen Barsell, Elisa Maser
A Collaborative Approach to Developing and Using Quality of
Life Indicators in New Zealand's Largest Cities 75
Kath Jamieson
2002 Hennepin County Community Indicators Report: Aligning
Community Indicators with Government Mission, Vision and
Overarching Goals 111
Misty Lee Heggeness, Paul Buschmann, Thomas Walkington
The State of the City Amsterdam Monitor: Measuring Quality of Life
in Amsterdam 133
Peggy Schyns, Jeroen Boelhouwer
A Three-Decade Comparison of Residents' Opinions on and Beliefs
about Life in Genesee County, Michigan 153
Robin Widgery
Creating an Index to Evaluate a Region's Competitiveness 183
Beth Jarosz, Michael D. Williams
Toward a Social Development Index for Hong Kong:
The Process of Community Engagement 209
Richard J. Estes
Measuring Sustainability and Quality-of-Life in the City of Zurich 235
Marco Keiner, Barbara Schultz, Willy A. Schmid
Index 247
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
We first like to acknowledge the authors who have contributed to this volume.
Most of the contributions to this volume were selected from presentations at the
2002 Community Quality-of-Life Conference held in Williamsburg, Virginia
(USA). That conference was sponsored by the International Society for Quality
of-Life Studies (ISQOLS). The royalties from the sale of this volume will go back
to ISQOLS' foundation, which is dedicated to assist quality-of-life researchers in
many ways. Therefore, the authors who made a contribution to this volume
deserve the greatest credit. Credit is also due to Wanda Nolley, Joe Sirgy's
secretary, who helped in formatting the volume in accordance to Kluwer's book
template. Also, thanks to Yan Yan Chan and Marianna Pascal, assistants to
Welmoed Spahr (Publishing Editor, Social Sciences Unit) who helped us in this
endeavor too. We also would like to express our appreciation to Andre Tournois
for producing the final copy of the book. Most importantly, our gratitude and
thanks go to Alex Michalos, editor of Kluwer's Social Indicators Research Book
Series, and Welmoed Spahr who approved the publication of this book.
IX
TERRI LYNN CORNWELL
VITAL SIGNS: QUALITY-OF-LIFE INDICATORS
FOR VIRGINIA'S TECHNOLOGY CORRIDOR
Abstract
During the 1990s 12 counties and 5 cities in western Virginia joined the
growing number of areas across the country in designing and tracking so
called "quality-of life" indicators. This region, first called the "New Century
Region" and later "Virginia's Technology Corridor," participated in a com
prehensive visioning process that provided the foundation for "Vital Signs,"
a community quality-of-life indicators project. This chapter traces the back
ground of Vital Signs and its initial structure and funding sources. It provides
an overview of the process for choosing initial indicators, the project's research
design, and how the research was analyzed. Also included in the chapter are
discussions of objective data (environmental, social, and economic statistics)
gathered from the most reliable sources available at the time and subjective
data (individuals' perceptions of their quality of life) gathered from a mail
survey to 3,200 households throughout the region. Analysis of both the object
ive and subjective research provided policymakers in western Virginia guidance
in enhancing existing programs or creating new programs to meet the needs of
the region. The chapter concludes with lessons learned during the first six years
of the project.
1.1 Introduction
In the early 1990s more than 8,000 jobs were lost within an 80-mile radius of
Roanoke, the largest city in western Virginia, as the area's economy began to
falter. In response to this critical situation, business and community leaders from
the New River Valley, Allegheny Highlands, and Roanoke Valley formed an
organization to design a strategic plan detailing a brighter economic future.
Known as the New Century Region, this area encompasses approximately
500,000 people and originally included 12 counties and five independent cities
(an additional county was added in 1998). Led by the New Century Council, an
organization of community leaders, more than 1,000 volunteers throughout the
region participated in a visioning process that identified goals and strategies
designed to achieve a desirable, sustainable future. Of primary importance to
the process was the agreement that the path to this future involved complex
interconnections between various aspects of society - economic, environmental,
and social - and that these aspects must be monitored to ensure a high quality of
life for everyone.
M. Joseph Sirgy. Don Rahtz and Dong-Jin Lee (ed,.), Community Quality-aI-Life Indicators: Best Cases, /-27.
© 2004 Kluwer Academic Publishers.
2 TERRI LYNN CORNWELL
Concurrently with this process, New Century leaders succeeded in gaining the
attention of Virginia's legislature. In 1997, the Virginia General Assembly passed
H. J. Res. No. 467 recognizing the New Century Region of Virginia. The reso
lution noted that the economic development organizations of the region had
collaborated to create a "new platform from which to sell the region nationally
to firms that can invest, create jobs, and take advantage of the region's institutions
of higher education." The resolution also praised the regional collaboration and
requested that the Virginia Department of Transportation post and maintain signs
reading "Entering Virginia'S Technology Corridor" on various interstate high
ways entering the region.
To ensure that the area would indeed become Virginia's Technology Corridor,
the New Century Council's various visioning committees designated strategies and
recommended specific actions. One of the major recommendations from the New
Century Council's Quality of Life Committee was to establish various community
indicators, collect data pertaining to each indicator, compare the data with other
areas around the state and nation, and determine where the New Century Region
has strengths and weaknesses. This profile could then be used to create programs
designed to correct deficiencies and promote strengths in support of a high quality
of life for citizens of the region. This was the beginning of the Community
Indicators Project of the New Century Region (Virginia's Technology Corridor),
which was later named Vital Signs.
1.2 Vital Signs - Phase I
The first step in the Vital Signs Community Indicators Project was to establish a
volunteer "Community Indicators Committee." Representatives from all sectors
became a part of this group, and funding was sought through the New Century
Council's non-profit organization. The committee also began the process of
selecting indicators, compiling and analyzing data, and publishing a report.
A network of public and private institutions provided initial support. These
included the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency; the Virginia Environmental
Endowment; the Norfolk Southern Corporation; the Robins Foundation and The
Cabell Brand Center, foundations interested in sustainability issues; Carilion
Community Health Fund; several colleges; and a number of local governments.
During 1997, the Community Indicators Committee hosted numerous public
meetings and discussions on possible indicators. In addition, lists of possible data
sets were published in the regional newspaper to elicit more public response. (See
Appendix l.A.) Following that process, additional community meetings and
interviews with community leaders were held to discuss which indicators would
be most useful to policymakers in all sectors of the region. These indicators were
then re-examined to determine if comparable data could be obtained for each of
the jurisdictions of the region. Some indicators were dropped, because data would
be too difficult or costly to obtain, and others were added, particularly if they
captured linkages among the various categories. For example, the indicator called
"Financial Accessibility to Higher Education" attempted to measure the ability of
VITAL SIGNS 3
the region's households to afford higher education, thus linking the economy with
education. The final list of indicators was then grouped into six categories:
population, community, economy, education, environment, and health (see
Table 1.1). Operational definitions and sources of data for these indicators are
in Appendix 1.B.
In 1998 baseline data was collected for 58 different indicators and published in
Vital Signs: Community Indicators for the New Century Region (also called Vital
Signs 1998). That report, compiled and edited by Ferrum College Environmental
Science Professor John Leffler, analyzed statistics for the region using more than
100 graphs and tables and included data for each individual county and city in its
appendix. In addition, the entire 1998 report was made accessible on the Internet
http://www.newcentury.org.
Table 1.2 gives an example of some of the data collected for one of the
jurisdictions in the study. This data was for one of the twelve counties and was
considered important to assess the region's quality of life. For example, in Roa
noke County population was increasing slowly (good for the environment, but not
as good to support the economy in job growth); births to teenage girls held
somewhat steady, but child abuse rates showed an increase; the unemployment
rates were similar to the low national rates, but higher-paying manufacturing jobs
were decreasing; infant mortality rates and rates of women seeking prenatal care
were not alarming; the amount of solid waste generated per person per year was
increasing (an environmental concern); student drop-out rate was decreasing (for
this particular county), but the cost of higher education as a percent of median
household income had been increasing (not as much for this county as for others,
however).
Stressing the complexity of linkages within a modern society and the necessity
of addressing economic, environmental, and social considerations equally, Vital
Signs 1998 was designed as an educational tool to help citizens set priorities and
goals, develop action plans, and track progress toward a vision of their commu
nity. The report also emphasized regional thinking: "We are all in this together
and the localities of the New Century Region will prosper or flounder together."
(Leffler, 1998) It encouraged individual jurisdictions to use the data, not in a
competitive way, but as a means to understand trends that affect the entire region
or to target areas in which special programs might be needed.
The report stressed that the most outstanding positive attribute in the region
was its natural environment and that preserving this "aesthetic aspect" of the
area's quality of life should be a top priority. Secondly, the report discussed the
quality of children's lives in the region. Calling a portion of the population,
"children at risk," Vital Signs 1998 noted poverty rates, rates of child abuse,
and other factors contributing to family instability, and urged organizations to
begin to design programs which would improve these conditions. Vital Signs 1998
concluded with a challenge to the citizens of the region: "[we must] increase
our economic strength and vitality in a sustainable fashion that protects the
highly valued natural and cultural heritage of the New Century Region" (Leffler,
1998).