Ask Lexington Initiative

Save this PDF as:

WORD PNG TXT JPG

Size: px

Start display at page:

Download "Ask Lexington Initiative"

Willa Gallagher
2 years ago
Views:

Transcription

1 Ask Lexington Initiative Round One Summary The goal of the Ask Lexington initiative was to bring people into conversation about the kind of communities they want to live in and to generate ideas on how they could affect changes to make those communities a reality. Conversations were small groups, optimally consisting of six to ten participants, facilitated by AARP-trained volunteers who recruited community members for participation. In each conversation, a Facilitator initiated the discussion while a designated Recorder documented group responses. A total of 44 community conversations were held between April and December of 2011, with group sizes ranging from four to 20 participants. Overall, a total of 362 community members participated in the conversations. Participants represented a variety of populations from various socioeconomic groups, ages, cultures, races, and beliefs. No community members were excluded from participating in the Ask Lexington initiative. Community conversations were transcribed into an electronic file, and a word frequency analysis generated common themes and ideas. Additionally, a word cloud was generated using Wordle.net to create a visual presentation of the community conversation results. Aging, transportation, safety, and neighborhoods were the four most frequently occurring themes in the conversations. A bar graph was created to depict the number of conversations that discussed these common themes. The Ask Lexington initiative was convened by the Lexington Fayette County Urban Government (LFUCG) Office of Aging Services and AARP Kentucky with the support of Mayor Jim Gray. Conversation groups were hosted by organizations as diverse as the New Horizons Band, the Lexington AARP Chapter, the National Council of Negro Women, Donovan Scholars, various church groups, neighborhood association groups, the Family Life Center, and LFUCG s Senior Intern Program. Round Two Ask Lexington conversations will be held in May 2012 in conjunction with the Bluegrass Community Connectors project. Final Report 3/19/12 Page 1

2 Frequently Occurring Words RANK COUNT WORD RANK COUNT WORD 1 52 SENIOR SIDEWALKS 2 49 NEIGHBORHOOD EDUCATION 3 46 SAFE ARTS 4 43 TRANSPORTATION ACCESSIBLE 5 38 WALKING POLICE 6 37 CHILDREN AGE 7 33 SERVICES BIKE 8 28 JOBS CLEAN 9 27 AFFORDABLE FACILITIES HELP DOWNTOWN HOUSING PARKS CENTER TRAFFIC AVAILABLE SYSTEM BUS PATHS FREE 40 9 GROCERY PUBLIC 41 9 DRUG SHOPS 42 9 CLOSE BETTER 43 9 HOME FRIENDLY 44 9 HEALTH OPPORTUNITIES 45 9 CRIME ACTIVITIES 46 9 HOMELESS STREETS 47 8 STREET GREENSPACE 48 8 RESOURCES ACCESS 49 8 FELONS NEIGHBORS 50 7 HEALTHCARE Final Report 3/19/12 Page 2

3 What kind of community do you want to live in? Word Cloud Final Report 3/19/12 Page 3

4 Themes Identified By Groups Number of Groups Safety Transportation Neighborhoods Aging Sample Participant Comments Safety Safe, police with quick response, friendly and crime-free. Safe, with good police, fire, neighborhood watch, locks, and a personal feeling of safety. Safer, cleaner community with a stronger police presence and more lighting. Transportation Better transportation for seniors and people with disabilities: more reliable, with expanded routes. Transportation that is safe and convenient. Better public transportation without a car, you are lost hard to get from subdivisions to a bus. Neighborhoods More Mom and Pop enterprises in the surrounding neighborhoods, creating more sense of community and home. Diverse neighborhoods not segregated by race or ethnicity. More community and cooperative gardens to encourage interaction in our neighborhoods. Aging We need more information and resources available to seniors one place to get information on everything (especially for the African-American community). We need to use the knowledge of elders to teach the younger generation. Recycle the elderly. The Senior Center needs to be larger, love the current location. We need more Senior Centers that are strategically located. A clean and responsible community that understands there is an older and aging in place population that needs age-appropriate services and facilities. We need affordable senior housing and ADA capable senior transportation. Final Report 3/19/12 Page 4

5 What are some of the things that need to happen to create the kind of community you want? Examples of answers included: Use zoning & planning to encourage community interactions Establish more Neighborhood Watch programs Revamp old community centers and parks to make new places for people of all ages to gather in community Relieve traffic congestion downtown by making it more walkable and with trolleys Provide better education about helpful programs that already exist Make Lexington more accessible for everyone with a focus on seniors and persons with disabilities. More small buses through research into neighborhood patterns Get organizations working together on community programs, not just promoting their own organization s programs Overall most participants expressed a desire for continued leadership and services by government (Mayor, City Council, law enforcement), but there was also support for the idea that individuals and families who live in Lexington should work together to start the changes the conversations are suggesting. Ideas that were unique, specific and might be fairly easy to implement included: Put all offices at the Senior Center upstairs to expand the activity area Increase security by having Police live in every neighborhood; this could be accomplished if the city purchased vacant homes and then rented them at a discount to police officers Create areas in department stores to sit when tired so you don t have to go home early. Include tips in the KY drivers manual about how age changes affect a driver Expand the Farmer s Market concept by having small markets located throughout the community Political leaders need to experience living in senior housing for a week and use public transportation to navigate Lexington Stricter enforcement of parking restrictions Note: raw data is available for community review; contact Kristy Stambaugh at for more information. Final Report 3/19/12 Page 5

Townsend Housing Authority

Townsend Housing Authority Townsend Housing Authority Affordable Housing Survey Conducted September November 2004 Methodology The survey was formulated by the Townsend Housing Authority, printed by the