In 2015, The Napanee District Community Foundation, together with funding partners TransCanada, The Town of Greater Napanee, Napanee Rotary Club and Kawartha Credit Union completed a Vital Signs Survey. This process created a snapshot in time of how our community views itself and the services that we as residents think are important.
Based on survey results, the study concluded that residents feel safe, are generally pleased with health care services and believed that this is a great community to raise our children.
However, the study found areas for improvement and raised awareness of these issues and gave us factual and opinion data to work with.
The study was not intended to offer solutions but rather give us the tools to allow us to focus our attention on where improvements could be made.
The Foundation hoped that the data collected will be used by a number of agencies, boards and government departments to assist them in the development of programs and setting funding priorities to improve the quality of life in Greater Napanee.
A major aspect of this study was a community survey that welcomed all Greater Napanee residents aged 13 and older to rank the most important issues facing Greater Napanee. They are listed below from most important to least important:
1) Health and Well-Being
2) Personal Safety and Security
3) Recreation
4) Housing
5) Environment and Sustainability
6) Arts, Culture and Heritage
QUICK OVERVIEW OF THE 6 PRIORITY AREAS AND FINDINGS:
- Health & Well-being: The community ranked this area as the most important of all the priorities and gave it the second highest rating for how well the community is addressing it. In looking at specific health related issues, a number of concerns were identified but there was no singular problem area.
- Personal Safety & Security: The community places personal safety among it’s highest priorities and considers it to be well provided by various agencies. Statistics show a general declining trend in violent crimes which is consistent with provincial averages. Local households, however, told us that they have not done enough on their own to prepare for emergencies and are concerned about loitering and drug use.
- Recreation: Survey results clearly show that the community wants improvements in this area. Respondents identified both facilities and programming as requiring attention.
- Housing: With one of the lowest rental vacancy rates in the country, housing presents many challenges for the community. An aging population, and lower than average family incomes, contribute to affordability, accessibility, and supportive housing challenges.
- Environment: In a general sense a majority of respondents are satisfied with the level of protection of their local environment. However, several priorities do emerge including protection of water resources, waste diversion and preservation of farmland.
- Arts: For the most part, the community feels there is a good presence of Arts and Culture available even though the Arts ranks lowest in terms of importance to them. They would support activities held within an Arts Centre
Click below to see the Vital Signs Survey Summary and the detailed methodology and findings.
