Village Residents in Potsdam, Massena and Malone Give High Marks for Quality of Life in SUNY Potsdam Study

POTSDAM, NY (05/11/2015)(readMedia)-- A majority of village residents in Potsdam, Massena and Malone give their communities high marks, despite expressing concerns about local property tax rates and future economic prospects.

A two-year study by political science faculty and students at SUNY Potsdam, with support from the Potsdam Institute for Applied Research, finds that more than 78% of residents in the three villages rate their overall quality of life as "good" (42%), "very good" (28%) or "excellent" (8%). For more detail, see Table 1.

What shapes quality of life?

For most residents in the three villages, quality of life perceptions are closely linked to opinions about municipal services and tax rates. For more detail, see Table 2.

In Potsdam, nearly all residents who are satisfied with their village services rate their quality of life as good, very good or excellent (98%). By contrast, 85% of Potsdam residents who are unsatisfied with their village services rate their quality of life between good and excellent. In Massena, 85% of residents who are satisfied with their village services give their quality of life high marks, compared to only 55% among those who are unsatisfied with their services. In Malone, the gap is even larger, with a 42% difference in quality of life ratings between those who are satisfied and those who are unsatisfied with their services (88% vs. 46%).

In each village, a significant number of residents believe that village property tax rates are unreasonable (60% in Potsdam, 43% in Massena and 62% in Malone). Residents who believe their municipal tax rates are unreasonable are also less likely to rate their quality of life as good, very good or excellent, as compared to those who believe village tax rates are reasonable.

In Massena and Malone, but not in Potsdam, quality of life perceptions also reflect concerns about the future direction of the local economy. In Massena, about 60% of residents believe the local economy will become worse in the next 12 months. Massena residents who believe the economy will become worse are 24% less likely to rate their quality of life from good to excellent, compared to those who believe the local economy will remain the same or improve. In Malone, residents who believe the economy will become worse (24%) are far less likely to rate their quality of life highly, compared to those who believe the economy will improve (42% vs. 99%).

For Potsdam residents, beliefs about future crime rates weigh as heavily as opinions concerning municipal taxes and services in their quality of life evaluations. About 76% of Potsdam residents who believe crime will increase rated their quality of life from good to excellent, compared to 98% among those who believe crime will remain the same. This finding did not hold true in Massena or Malone.

Why live in the village?

The SUNY Potsdam Village Quality of Life Survey also asked residents why they live in a village rather than in the surrounding town outside the village. The most popular reason is proximity to work or school (66% in Potsdam, 62% in Malone and 56% in Massena), followed by liking their street or neighborhood (55% in Potsdam, 62% in Malone and 48% in Massena). Many residents also selected access to village utilities and services (42% in Potsdam, 41% in Malone and 61% in Massena).

By contrast, far fewer residents live in a village because they grew up there (16% in Potsdam, 28% in Malone and 26% in Massena) or for access to shopping (22% in Potsdam, 39% in Malone and 39% in Massena).

In Potsdam, closeness to entertainment or cultural events is a far more common reason to live in the village (39%) than for residents of either Massena (6%) or Malone (7%).

Village civic life

Residents of Potsdam, Massena and Malone are somewhat more involved in the civic life of their communities than most Americans. This conclusion is based on a comparison of the village survey to a 2006 national benchmark study directed by Harvard political scientist Robert Putnam. Putnam's research suggests that citizens are happier, healthier and wealthier when they regularly engage in activities such as volunteering or working on community projects.

About half of the residents in Potsdam, Massena and Malone report working on a community project at least once in the last 12 months, compared to just 34% of Americans nationwide in 2006.

Residents of Potsdam volunteered an average of 11.3 times in the last 12 months, Massena residents averaged 8.3 times, and Malone residents 10.4 times, whereas the national average is 9.6 times.

The typical Potsdam resident attended three public meetings to discuss village or school affairs in the last 12 months, compared to an average of about one in Massena and Malone, and 2.3 nationwide.

About the survey

The analysis in this report is based on surveys conducted in March 2014 and March 2015 among adult, non-institutionalized residents of the villages of Potsdam, Massena and Malone. A total of 365 persons responded online, by mail or over the phone. The response rate was 30% (AAPOR Response Rate 3) for the overall sample. Telephone surveys were conducted by student interviewers at The State University of New York at Potsdam, under the direction of political science faculty.

Households were randomly selected for inclusion in the sample using satellite images of the three villages obtained from Google Maps. Each selected household was sent an invitation to complete the survey online along with the paper survey and a postage-paid business reply envelope. Households that did not respond online or by mail, and with a publicly available telephone number, were called up to five times. Respondents were selected using the modified Kish (most recent birthday) method. Data were only weighted for analysis to reflect household size.

Table 3 shows the unweighted sample sizes and the margins of error for the 95% confidence level. The margins of error reported above reflect sampling error only; in opinion polling, there is always the risk that question wording and other systematic issues with the conducting of the survey may have introduced error into the results.

This report was prepared by SUNY Potsdam students Patrick Cerio, Bianca Eche, Khalil Franklin and Robert Reno, under the supervision faculty members Robert Hinckley and Jack McGuire. Questions should be directed to Assistant Professor of Politics Robert Hinckley, at (315) 267-2563 or hincklra@potsdam.edu.

Primary investigators

Dr. Robert A. Hinckley received his doctorate in political science from the University of California, Santa Barbara (2006). He joined the SUNY Potsdam faculty in 2009, and conducts research on public opinion and political participation in the United States and Europe.

Dr. Jack McGuire holds a doctorate in political science from Washington State University (2004). He conducts research on American political institutions and state and local politics. McGuire joined the SUNY Potsdam faculty in 2005.

Student investigators

The student investigators included: Kirk Amarh-Kwantreng, Robert Bradford, Daniel Brazel, Patrick Cerio, Alex DiTullio, Victoria Doody, Oyiwodu Eche, Paul Francis, Khalil Franklin, Daniel Frederick, Jesse Gleason, Alexandra Guidarelli, Diomaris Henriquez, Jacob Holeman, Mark Hussain, Leo'el Jackson, Cory Kendall, Timothy Knapp, Sean Koloski, Jacob Lefkowitz, John Longo, Colleen O'Riley, Nia Owens, Tawnia Provost, Robert Reno, Adonis Richards, Christian Rodriguez, Christopher Schrum, Lindy Seymour, Amna Siddiqui, Antonio Valdes, Victoria Vanderhall, Lindsey Waring and Graham Wetzel.

SUNY Potsdam's Department of Politics aims to teach, energize, support and inspire students. For more information, visit www.potsdam.edu/academics/AAS/Pols.

Founded in 1816, and located on the outskirts of the beautiful Adirondack Park, The State University of New York at Potsdam is one of America's first 50 colleges. SUNY Potsdam currently enrolls approximately 4,300 undergraduate and graduate students. Home to the world-renowned Crane School of Music, SUNY Potsdam is known for its handcrafted education, challenging liberal arts and sciences core, excellence in teacher training and leadership in the performing and visual arts. Empowered by a culture of creativity, the campus community recently launched Take the Lead: The Campaign for Potsdam, which aims to raise $32 million by the College's bicentennial in 2016.

###

Posted Monday May 11, 2015 at 02:30 pm by SUNY Potsdam
Last Updated Wednesday May 13, 2015 at 11:50 am