Community Corner

Is Watsonville Heading In The Right Direction?

Got a few minutes? A telephone survey wants your thoughts on living in Santa Cruz County.

Is life in Watsonville getting better? That's what a new survey is trying to discover.

The telephone survey, sponsored by United Way of Santa Cruz County, begins Friday and continues through May. The survey includes opinions on the economy, education, public safety and more gathered from more than 900 Santa Cruz County residents. The data is used to create Santa Cruz County’s yearly report card known as the Santa Cruz County Community Assessment Project.

Past survey results are available at www.appliedsurveyresearch.org.

Last year's CAP showed residents were starting to feel upbeat about the economy and local schools. It also used statistics from agencies to show a drop in crime and an improvement in academic performance. The report card also provides suggested goals for community leaders, such as "By the year 2015, increase the number of jobs within Santa Cruz County by 1,000 and 're-localize' 10 percent of our commuting workforce."

Kirsten Liske, the chair of the community assessment project encourages all those who receive a phone call to participate in the survey by reminding residents that this is “An important opportunity for community members to offer their input and perspective about the aspects that are positive about their community as well as the challenges and issues that they and their community are facing.”


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