Lewis survey shows slight drop in resident satisfaction

LOWVILLE — While most Lewis County residents remain satisfied with their quality of life, the number considering it poor hit a five-year high, according to a 2011 survey conducted by the Center for Community Studies at Jefferson Community College, Watertown.

Asked about their overall quality of life, 73 percent of respondents rated it as either excellent or good, according to results of the fifth annual Lewis County community survey. That’s the same as in 2009 but down from 78 percent last year.

Meanwhile, 7.2 percent of respondents rated their quality of life as poor, up from a low of 3 percent last year. The previous high was 6 percent in 2009.

The 72-question survey does include a margin of error of 5.7 percentage points, so that increase would not be considered statistically significant.

The percentage of those rating the overall state of the economy as poor increased slightly, from 41 percent to 43 percent, but that follows a trend in which that figure jumped from 19 percent to 44 percent from 2007 to 2009.

“There’s been a stabilization,” said Raymond E. Petersen, political science professor and director of the center at JCC.

Residents report the most satisfaction with the quality of the environment, the quality of kindergarten through grade 12 education and overall quality of life. The most dissatisfaction was with the availability of good jobs, real estate taxes, energy costs and the overall state of the local economy.

One significant jump came on the question of whether respondents expect to stay in Lewis County for the next five years. Those answering no rose from 5.7 percent in 2010 to 18.2 percent, with the previous high being 7.4 percent in 2007.

A majority of respondents — 56.4 percent — ages 18 to 29 indicated they expect to move out of the county within five years, while college attendees and graduates are more likely to stay than those with no college education.

Another significant shift came in a question on whether county schools are adequately preparing students for the future technology and economy, with those saying no rising from 5.7 percent in 2010 to 18.2 percent. However, those supporting that statement dropped only from 78.4 percent to 73.8 percent, while those with no opinion dropped from 16.2 percent to 8.7 percent.

In one set of first-time survey questions, 86.9 percent of respondents said they believe county school districts should work together to share similar services, while 51.6 percent said districts should consider consolidation with their neighbors. Support for consolidation was higher among the younger respondents than the 60-plus demographic, of which only 44.4 percent endorsed the idea.

Another set of first-time questions showed that 78 percent of respondents supported the so-called state “millionaire’s tax,” while 71 percent supported the state’s new 2-percent property tax cap. Support for the higher income tax rate on millionaires saw only 64 percent support in the 18 to 29 demographic and 57 percent support among those with a four-year college degree.

Ninety percent of respondents indicated support for tourism and recreation-related development and marketing, while 79 percent favored more walking trails, 78 percent favored more all-terrain vehicle and snowmobile trails and 74 percent supported county efforts to acquire rights–of-way to preserve corridors for future public use. Municipal government efforts to preserve agricultural and forest lands from private development also received 78 percent support.

Results were compiled from 402 telephone interviews of random county residents Oct. 24 and 25.

The survey, funded by Jefferson Community College, Northern New York Community Foundation and the Herring College Memorial Trust, is available online.