We’ve seen now why attachment is an important metric for communities, since it links to key outcomes like local economic growth (GDP). So, the next obvious question is: what drives attachment? After three years of research, the results have been very consistent, and possibly surprising.
. . . While the economy is obviously the subject of much attention, the study has found that perceptions of the local economy do not have a very strong relationship to resident attachment. Instead, attachment is most closely related to how accepting a community is of diversity, its wealth of social offerings, and its aesthetics (emphasis added). This is not to say that jobs and housing aren’t important. Residents must be able to meet their basic needs in a community in order to stay. However, when it comes to forming an emotional connection with the community, there are other community factors which often are not considered when thinking about economic development. These community factors seem to matter more when it comes to attaching residents to their community. . . .To read the overview of this research effort and gain access to the full Knight Foundation report, please click here.
You can read the full report by clicking here.
Or watch the 8-minute video below for an overview.
As yourself: Are we achieving this in Reston? . . . at Tysons? . . . in the County as a whole?
No comments:
Post a Comment
Your comments are welcome and encouraged as long as they are relevant, constructive, and decent.