York County Quality of Life Study
Posted September 19, 2007FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
YORK, Pa. - The Institute of Applied Social Research at York College recently conducted a York County Quality of Life Study. The study examines the spectrum of experiences that constitute quality of life. The topics investigated in the study are categorized as follows: overall quality of life, politics, family, economics, education, health and safety, recreation and leisure and demographics.
Data was collected in early Spring 2007 from surveys and interviews with a random sample of 295 York County residents.
Listed below are some of the major findings:
1) Overall quality of life...On a five point scale ranging from 1 - poor, to 5 - excellent, nearly two thirds of the respondents outside the city (63.6%) gave ratings of 4 and 5. In comparison, the percentage of city respondents giving the same ratings was 36.1%.
2) Politics...Three fourths of the city respondents (75.9%) versus 85.6% of those outside the city are registered to vote. Echoing a nationwide trend, 18 to 24 year olds are the least likely to be registered to vote.
3) Community Involvement...A sizable percentage of the county population is involved in the community in some way - 90.9% make charitable contributions
4) Commuting...31.3% of the commuters stated that their commuting time has increased over the past five years. This could partially explain why 55.8% of the 33.4% of the sample that works outside of the county would prefer to work in the county. However, since it is higher income respondents who work outside of county, it is doubtful how many would give up their higher paying jobs to avoid a commute.
5) Downsizing...Changes that have occurred in the county’s economy are reflected in the 17.0% of the respondents who have lost employment due to downsizing. The greatest percentage of them are between 55 and 64 years of age. Nearly half (48.8%) indicated they were not able to find satisfactory employment.
6) Safety...On a five point scale ranging from 1 - very unsafe, to 5 - very safe, only 21.3% assigned a rating of 4 or 5 to safety in the city. This is a contrast to 75.8% who gave the same ratings to safety outside the city. While 78.4% of those who reside outside the city gave a rating of 4 or 5 to safety outside the city, only 51.1% of the city residents assigned similar ratings to their feelings of safety outside the city.
For more information on the survey and the Institute of Applied Social Research, please contact Alicia Kollar at 815-1309.
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