Next Up Community Visioning meeting is August 26 at Am. Legion

Plainview residents will have the opportunity to continue discussion of what Plainview should look like 20 years from now at the next “Up For Discussion” meeting set for 7 p.m. Wednesday, August 26th at the American Legion club room.
Results of the recently closed Plainview Community Survey will be starting points for discussion. The good news from the survey is that the majority of people who filled out the survey are “extremely satisfied” or “moderately satisfied” with living in Plainview.
“The survey was designed to measure satisfaction with key city services and major aspects of life in Plainview,” said Sally Harrington who facilitated the first “Up For Discussion” meeting held in February.
The survey was online and available as a hard copy from late June to early July. A total of 178 people responded.
According to the survey, 82% of all respondents are homeowners and just about half are 35 to 54 years of age.. Harrington said that these numbers indicates that people who filled out the survey probably have families with children. They also have a vested interest in the future of their community.
Major findings from the survey are as follows:
• 74% of all respondents are satisfied with living in Plainview. (22% are extremely satisfied while 52% are moderately satisfied)
• 83% have a strong sense of community (14% - extremely strong; 38% - quite strong; and 31% moderately strong)
• 82% are homeowners
• 80% say they feel safe (30% - extremely safe and 50% quite safe)
• 73% feel police are respond quickly when needed (26% - extremely responsive and 47% quite responsive)
• 67% say the streets are clean (10% - extremely clean and 57% - quite clean)
• 61% are satisfied with city parks (12% - extremely satisfied and 49% - moderately satisfied)
• 57% say they are proud of Plainview (15% - extremely proud and 43% - quite proud)
• 52% use the parks (18% - quite often and 34% - moderately often)
• 48% of the respondents are 35-54 years of age, while another 15% are 55 to 64 years of age. (63% of all respondents were 35 to 64 years old)
Answers to several open-ended questions will be analyzed for the August 26th meeting.
Answers to open-ended questions will help guide marketing efforts, Jordan said. For example, the question “What do you like about Plainview?” had the following responses:
• “Small town” cited by 48 out of 120 responses:
• “School” cited by 28 of 120 responses
• “Friendly people” or “friendly community” cited by 12 of 120 responses
Jordan went on to say that the value of the community visioning effort led by Harrington is giving people a forum for input into community planning and marketing efforts.
“Other cities are marketing their housing options, school systems and business potential. If everyone is marketing about the same thing,” she said, “What does Plainview have—or have to do— to stand out? Answers to that question can come out of this visioning process!”
All Plainview community members are welcome to the August 26th Up for Discussion meeting. For more information or to share comments if you can’t attend this meeting, contact Sally Harrington at 534-3475 or Judith Jordan at plainvieweda@gmail.com