Should be available at the JCCI website 1/19/2010, this is from the Times Union:
QuoteFor city, recession a mix of good and bad:
The economy took a toll on Jacksonville's quality of life, but the year was not without progress on some important fronts.
Huge job losses, increases in suicide rates and a drop in support for the arts were among the many indicators found by the Quality of Life Progress Report published each year by the Jacksonville Community Council Inc. But it also found better graduation rates, more people volunteering, and improved crime rates.
The report, being released today, tracks dozens of indicators that range from infant mortality rates to the number of nonstop flight destinations at Jacksonville International Airport. The important thing is to look at the report holistically instead of focusing on just one statistic, said Skip Cramer, JCCI's executive director.
"You can have great air quality, great water quality, huge public safety issues, and you've got a horrible quality of life," he said.
The Quality of Life Report was first published in 1985 and has received a makeover on its 25th birthday. The report itself is shorter and streamlined but has much more additional information available that is searchable online at www.jcci.org.
Economy
Recession, layoffs take their toll
The good: There was little good news in a year when historic job losses and foreclosure rates left people in Northeast Florida and all over the nation struggling.
The bad: The most recent data from the state's Agency for Workforce Innovation show that between June 2008 and June 2009, Duval County lost about 28,000 jobs. Unemployment soared. The report indicated that more households - about two in five- were paying more than 30 percent of their income for housing, and that the Jacksonville port's tonnage decreased by more than a million tons. Bed tax and sales tax collections were down $20 million. More than 30,000 people in Northeast Florida began receiving food stamps, taking the total to 133,000.
Environment
Water usage declines, but recycling slows
The good: At 187 gallons per person per day, water use is on the decline and has been for a few years, the report found. St. Johns Riverkeeper Neil Armingeon said he hopes that's due to more awareness about the state's water crisis. With much in the news lately about the possibility of Central Florida siphoning the St. Johns River for drinking water, Armingeon said, it has generally raised awareness about shrinking underground aquifers. Rivers and streams are also increasingly in compliance with water quality standards, the report found.
The bad: Residential recycling was down sharply, from 62 pounds per person to 52 pounds. And air quality will be an ongoing issue, especially as new standards will almost certainly put this area out of compliance. "What's really going to matter on the river and the environment is each of us taking some responsibility," Armingeon said.
Safety
Crime is down; people feel safer, too
The good: Fewer people reported being victims of crime, crime rates were generally down, and there were fewer murders and verified child-abuse reports, according to the study. The percentage of people in Duval County who feel safe walking alone in their neighborhood at night rose in 2009 - that was after five years of steep declines in such perceptions, according to annual survey research. "We've had drops in crime and ... people are feeling that," Jacksonville Sheriff John Rutherford said. The department is set to soon announce further crime reduction, he said.
The bad: The murder rate still leads the state's urban areas. And although overall people in Duval County feel safer, there are significant disparities among racial groups. While about two-thirds of white people surveyed said they felt safe walking alone in their neighborhood at night, just 43 percent of black people surveyed said the same.
Social
Hard times strain wallets but not volunteerism; disparities persist
The good: Volunteering is up - despite the hard times; 64 percent of Duval residents report giving their time, up from 59 percent the previous year. Layoffs have been a boon for nonprofits that depend on volunteers, and new community service initiatives are gaining ground. Fewer children are being placed in foster care thanks to cost-efficient reforms at the state Department of Children and Families and its foster care providers. Teen births were down. In addition, fewer people think racism is a problem, according to an annual survey.
The bad: Homelessness increased dramatically in 2009, and philanthropic giving to federated campaigns such as the United Way was off by 8 percent. Racial disparities in areas such as education and health persist. Suicide rates and rates of sexually transmitted diseases were up significantly.
Education
Progress in high school degrees, better school safety
The good: Graduation rates in Duval County have increased, both by the state's measure - hovering near 70 percent - and also have improved according to a nationally measured rate calculated by the National Governors' Association, which pegs it at about 65 percent. School safety has also improved.
The bad: There has been little progress in reading test scores among public school students. The percentage of third graders considered on grade level by the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test actually declined to 68 percent from 70 percent. The committee that prepared the report labeled education as a "red flag" issue because of its critical importance to the future of the city.
Recession still didn't affect people yet.Lot of people are still on unemployment checks.
They still have enough money to pay bills.
Wait for check to dry,no jobs and you got a big crises on your hand.
Then crime will soar and things will turn ugly.
QuoteThe good: At 187 gallons per person per day, water use is on the decline and has been for a few years
While I am sure many folks are voluntarily complying with the two days a week restriction on watering... enforcement is non existant. Average or above average rainfall for the year helped. A dry season coupled with non enforcement will raise this number.
QuoteThe bad: Residential recycling was down sharply, from 62 pounds per person to 52 pounds.
Even the 62 pound per residence is pathetic.
I agree. Extremely pathetic.
Wish we could have the same program as the ever-progressive city of Witchita, KS.
They take part in the program where each family/address gets points according the weight of thier recyclables. These points can be turned in for various desirables things, such as gift cards or services.
I know the program is in many other states as well.
QuoteWish we could have the same program as the ever-progressive city of Witchita, KS.
Forget that, use the San Francisco model where everything organic is in a seperate container and it then gets re-used as compost and resold as a revenue maker for the City. That is forward and progressive thinking that for some reason never makes its way from the West Coast to the East Coast. All we get is their weather 4 days later. :-[
Quote from: fsu813 on January 19, 2010, 10:18:19 AM
I agree. Extremely pathetic.
Wish we could have the same program as the ever-progressive city of Witchita, KS.
They take part in the program where each family/address gets points according the weight of thier recyclables. These points can be turned in for various desirables things, such as gift cards or services.
I know the program is in many other states as well.
Is this weighed at a drop offsite, or by a pick up service?
Sorry for confusion....
where is the material weighed?
I think the extreme freaking out has lessened and the acceptance of our situation has increased -- for better or worse, I don't know. How can you really measure these things? If you lose your job, you're screwed -- but you are also in trouble if you lie awake at night worrying that you may lose your job. If you find yourself unemployed at 30, what a drag. At 50, it is a catastrophe -- but constantly worrying about it does not belong to one group more than another. At 30 you may have a house full of children who need child care. Easier to get a job, but more demands on limited funds.
Quality of Life is about sleeping at night regardless of what is going on around you. Who can do this? This is the key. This is Quality Life.
I was out west at a conference and met a woman to lives in Laredo, TX, and most of their population is mexican, since they are close to the border. So she tells me that the people who end up begging and sleeping on the sidewalks are Caucasian Americans, not the mexicans, because the caucasians have been raised there, to believe that the government will take care of them.
All this spending of stumulus has me scared not just for today, but also future generations who believe it is OK to continue to live off of Uncle Sam. We are breeding more loafers in other words.
mtrain
do you know any more about san francisco's waste management system? i remember seeing or hearing about it before. do you know if they had a system of penalizing/taxing people who didn't get with the program?