San Luis Obispo County residents believe the top three issues that will impact the area in the next few years are employment and jobs, fast and uncontrolled growth, and water.
That’s according to a survey conducted by Action for Healthy Communities, a collaborative of public agencies and private organizations.
The findings were first released in a comprehensive 413-page report in 2010. Over the past year, information on specific topics, such as seniors or nutrition, has been released in a shorter, more readable format.
The latest short report, released this week, highlights issues that could affect community development in San Luis Obispo County, based on a telephone survey in 2010 of 1,101 county residents who shared concerns about preserving open spaces, water, air pollution, traffic, and other environmental and social issues affecting their quality of life.
Over the past decade, the county’s unemployment rate has more than doubled, to 10.2 percent in 2010 from 4 percent in 2001, and the county has experienced a net loss of 5,100 jobs.
On the growth issue, 69 percent of survey respondents said they were very concerned or somewhat concerned about construction in open spaces.
But although the rate of growth was a concern, housing construction has declined to an average of 654 new units built per year from 2008-10, compared with an average of 1,668 homes built annually from 2001-07.
In 2006, survey respondents’ top concern was the cost of housing, which has declined since the recession.
To read the full report, go to www.unitedwayslo.org/action10/index.html.
SanLuisObispo.com is happy to provide a forum for reader interaction, discussion, feedback and reaction to our stories. However, we reserve the right to delete inappropriate comments or ban users who can't play nice. See our full terms of service here.
Here are some rules of the road:
You should also know that The Tribune does not screen comments before they are posted. You are more likely to see inappropriate comments before our staff does, so we ask that you click the "report abuse" button to submit those comments for moderator review. You also may notify us via email at webmaster@thetribunenews.com. Note the headline on which the comment is made and tell us the profile name of the user who made the comment. Remember, comment moderation is subjective. You may find some material objectionable that we won't and vice versa.
If you submit a comment, the username of your account will appear along with it. Users cannot remove their own comments once they have submitted them, but you may ask our staff to retract one of your comments by sending an email to webmaster@thetribunenews.com. Again, make sure you note the headline on which the comment is made and tell us your profile name.
Be the first to know what's going on in San Luis Obispo County. Just tell us how you want to find out — we'll take care of the rest.
Sign up for breaking news alerts from SanLuisObispo.com and get the latest news sent to your cell phone via text message.
By signing up for alerts from this site, you are signing up for a program that may include up to 5 SMS text alert(s) per alert category per day. There is no service fee charged per month but your carrier's standard text messaging and other charges may apply. You may stop this subscription service at any time by sending the text message "STOP" to 72737. You must be at least thirteen (13) years of age to use our alert services. If you are between 13 and 17 years old, you agree that you have received parental permission both to complete the registration process and to receive SMS content on your cell phone. For help, send the text message "HELP" to 72737. This service will work with ATT, Verizon, Sprint, Nextel, Alltell, US Cellular, Cincinnati Bell, Boost, Virgin Mobile USA, Celluar South, Telos, Centennial, East Kentucky Network, Cellcom, Immix and Rural Celluar.
E-mail »
Twitter »
Facebook »
iTribune »
Subscribe »
RSS »
About comments
Reader comments on SanLuisObispo.com are the opinions of the writer, not The Tribune. If you see an objectionable comment, click the "report abuse" button below it. We will delete comments containing inappropriate links, obscenities, hate speech, and personal attacks. Flagrant or repeat violators will be banned. See more about comments here.