CARI: Center for Applied Rural Innovation

 

Title

Community Life in Rural Nebraska: Results from the 1997 Annual Nebraska Rural Poll

Document Type

Article

Date of this Version

August 1997

Comments

Published by the Center for Applied Rural Innovation, University of Nebraska – Lincoln. Copyright © 1999 by J. Allen, R. Filkins, S. Cordes, A. Smith, and E. Jarecki.

This working paper presents findings from the second annual Nebraska Rural Poll. The study is based on 3,264 responses from households in the 87 non-metropolitan counties in the state. The objectives of this paper are to answer the following questions:

1. How do rural Nebraskans perceive changes occurring in their community?

2. How do rural Nebraskans describe their communities: friendly or unfriendly, trusting or distrusting, supportive or hostile?

3. How satisfied are rural Nebraskans with various services and amenities; and how does satisfaction vary by community size, region, household income, age, gender, education and marital status?

4. Do rural Nebraskans believe there is a shortage of affordable housing in their community; and how do they feel this shortage has affected the community’s population and economic growth?

5. How do rural Nebraskans believe the consolidation of public schools, health care and local government would affect the quality of life in their community; and how do these perceptions vary by community size, region, and various individual attributes?

6. How do rural Nebraskans feel that population growth by adding different demographic segments (e.g., elderly residents, young families, members of minority groups) would affect the quality of life in their community?