CARI: Center for Applied Rural Innovation

 

Title

Living and Serving in Rural Nebraska

Document Type

Article

Date of this Version

July 2004

Comments

Published by the Center for Applied Rural Innovation, University of Nebraska – Lincoln. Copyright © 2004 by J. Allen, R. Vogt, and R. Cantrell.

Published by the Center for Applied Rural Innovation, University of Nebraska - Lincoln. Copyright © 2003 by J. Allen, R. Vogt, S. Cordes, and R. Cantrell. Many rural communities are experiencing population decline. However, rural residents have continued to show a strong attachment to their communities. How do rural Nebraskans feel about their community? Are they satisfied with the services provided? Have they served their community or county by holding a public office? Why or why not?

This report details 2,915 responses to the 2004 Nebraska Rural Poll, the ninth annual effort to understand rural Nebraskans’ perceptions. Respondents were asked a series of questions about their community and their community service experiences. Trends for some of these questions are examined by comparing data from the eight previous polls to this year’s results. For all questions, comparisons are made among different respondent subgroups, i.e., comparisons by age, occupation, region, etc. Based on these analyses, some key findings emerged:

• Rural Nebraskans are more positive about the change in their communities than they were last year. This year, 26 percent believe their community has changed for the better, compared to only 22 percent last year. And, only 22 percent think their community has changed for the worse, compared to 25 percent last year.

• The proportion of expected movers who plan to leave Nebraska increased this year. Last year, only 46 percent of the persons planning to move from their community expected to leave the state. That proportion increased to 56 percent this year.

• Rural Nebraskans living in or near the largest communities are more likely than the persons living in or near the smaller communities to say their community has changed for the better. Thirty-four percent of the persons living in or near communities with populations of 10,000 or more believe their community has changed for the better, but only 16 percent of the persons living in or near communities with less than 500 people share this opinion.

• The community services and amenities that rural Nebraskans are most dissatisfied with include: entertainment, retail shopping, restaurants and city/village government. They are most satisfied with parks and recreation, library services, basic medical care services, highways and bridges, and education (K - 12).

• Larger community residents are more likely than residents of smaller communities to be dissatisfied with their city/village government. Thirty-eight percent of the persons living in or near communities with populations of 5,000 or more are dissatisfied with their city/village government, compared to 24 percent of the persons living in or near communities with less than 500 people.

• Smaller community residents are more likely than residents of larger communities to express dissatisfaction with their law enforcement. Thirty-five percent of the persons living in or near communities with less than 500 people are dissatisfied with their law enforcement. However, only 19 percent of the persons living in or near communities with populations of 5,000 or more are dissatisfied with this service.

• Younger persons are more likely than older persons to be planning to move from their community next year. Thirteen percent of the persons between the ages of 19 and 29 are planning to move next year, compared to only three percent of the persons age 65 and older. An additional 16 percent of the younger persons indicate they are uncertain if they plan to move.

• Fourteen percent of rural Nebraskans have run for or accepted appointment to public office in their local community or county.

• Males are more likely than females to have run for or accepted appointment to public office. Eighteen percent of males have run for or accepted appointment to public office in their local community or county. However, only seven percent of females have done so.

• Over one-half of rural Nebraskans who have not held public office say they have no interest in doing so. Sixty-one percent gave this reason for not running for or accepting appointment to public office. Thirty-five percent say no one has asked them to run/hold office and 32 percent say they don’t have enough time.

• Over one-half of rural Nebraskans who have run for or accepted appointment to public office in their local community or county say the following reasons were very important in their decision: I am interested in the future of my community or county (75%), I feel it is important to help my community (72%), I feel I can make a difference in my community or county (57%), and I can do something for a cause that is important to me (55%).