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68 °F Forecast | Road Cams Tuesday, May 24, 2005 Today's News | Shop Our Valley | Tempo | Health | Community | Home Delivery | Contact Us SECTIONS Home Page Local News Sports Business Obituaries Life Opinion Tempo AP News Weather Classified Archives Site Map SPECIAL SECTIONS Since We Asked Outdoor Journal Menu Guide How To Guide Health Biz Connection Readers' Choice Real Estate Showcase Real Estate Guide Joy Magazine Homelife Magazine Wedding Guide Passport to the Rogue Valley SHOP OUR VALLEY AutoFinder HomeFinder JobFinder Classified Place an ad TOP JOBS EXTRA Ashland News NIE Personals Movie Times TV Times E The People Volunteer Moving here? eSouthernOregon CUSTOMER SERVICE FAQ's Advertise with us Home Delivery Employment Contact Us Media Kit Oregon Road Conditions & Cams Email Story to a Friend May 17, 2005 Survey: Central Point content with public safety By BUFFY POLLOCK for the Mail Tribune CENTRAL POINT — Results of a recent survey show residents are content with public safety and like their town. On the flip side, traffic planning and a lack of available housing are concerns. Conducted by Pickering Group of Jacksonville, the survey randomly polled some 370 residents. City Administrator Phil Messina said the survey was geared at determining whether goals established as part of the plan were still valid. In addition, the survey was used to gauge feelings about traffic improvements and test the waters for a bond measure that would fund a community center, something residents said they wanted in a previous survey. Though the previous survey had a similar focus — future development and ongoing goals for the city —Messina said the more recent of the two paints a more accurate picture because it uses a random sample of residents. Advertisement "We’re feeling pretty good," Messina said. "We felt like it was a pretty positive report card for how things are right now in Central Point. "This was the first time the city had conducted a statistically valid survey. In the last survey, it basically collected information from residents who chose to respond." Of survey results, residents gave public safety an 86 percent approval rate. Some 92 percent agreed the city was a safe place to live, 93 percent said they live in a community with pride and 92 percent said they would recommend Central Point to friends and family. Areas of concern, Messina noted, were the lack of housing variety and traffic. "Housing variety is a tough one because it’s so locked into the private industry and developers," Messina said. "If you drive around, traffic is increasing. Something folks have to remember is that we’ve doubled our population in the last 15 years." A portion of the survey geared at testing the waters for acceptance of a bond measure, which would increase property taxes 50 cents per thousand dollars to renovate the former Central Point Elementary gym into a community center, did not garner anticipated support. Of those polled, 42 percent were in favor, about 28 percent were opposed and 29.5 percent had no opinion. "It may be that we need to educate residents on the benefits of a community center," said Messina, "judging by the number who had no opinion." Central Point resident Deanna Weaver, spending time at Pfaff Park with her three kids last week, said the city is doing a nice job at managing significant growth. "I love that we have some great park spaces going in and that the city is focusing on making the downtown less of an eyesore," said Weaver, a resident of nine years who said she was not contacted for the survey. "The traffic definitely concerns me because it’s only going to get worse. What they’ve got going at Pine Street by the grain elevator (at Highway 99) only seems to be making a bigger mess of things." Three-decade resident Karen Magill said she could do with fewer parks and better traffic control along Pine Street. "I’m no engineer so I can’t tell them how to fix it but you would think that somebody sure could," said Magill. "You take your life in your own hands to cross Pine Street � driving it is not much better." Magill said she was pleased with city-sponsored activities, the new library and police presence. All told, Messina said the survey will prove valuable in future planning sessions. "This was sort of a barometer to how people feel about living here," he said. "I think they have a lot of pride in their community, but they’re a little concerned about housing choices and they’re a little concerned about traffic planning. Those are some things City Council and staff can now have on our radar screen." Buffy Pollock is a free-lance writer living in Medford. E-mail her at [email protected] Mail Tribune Home | Local News | Sports | Business | Obituaries | Life | Opinion AP News | Archives | Site Map | Community | Classified Copyright © 1997-2005 Mail Tribune, Inc. All rights reserved. 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