Christian County’s enhancement advocacy group Community Vision Plan finds residents are pleased with community improvements in the county, having released the results of its annual community perception survey today.
Of the 288 community members who responded, 91% said they were proud to live in Christian County. 53% somewhat agree and 28% fully agree that Christian County offers a good quality of life. Community Vision Plan Spokesperson Yasamin Ausenbaugh said the group conducts the survey to find residents' opinion of the community in order to promote projects they desire. She says Community Vision Plan has successfully advocated for enhancement projects by gathering significant input from stakeholders.
“It’s good to see that in the last ten years or so we’ve seen a lot of improvement and it’s really interesting that a lot of people are like, ‘Do we still need this?’ because things have gotten so much better in the last nine or ten years,” Ausenbaugh said. “Our work’s not done though, there’s still a lot of improvements our community can make.”
Along with community research and advocacy, Community Vision Plan has supported projects like Rails-to-Trails and increased installation of directional signage. Ausenbaugh said people’s overall perception of Hopkinsville has improved and residents are more likely to recommend family and friends to visit and live in Christian County.
“We’re seeing people feel safer in Hopkinsville than they did a few years ago,” said Ausenbaugh. “We’re seeing people are more likely to recommend that their family and friends either buy a home here or live here or even visit. So we’re seeing people feeling better about the community and also feeling safer in our community.”
The Community Vision Plan is in the process of rewriting its plan for the next phase of improvement. The group is conducting a complete analysis of Christian County from 2004 to 2014, which Ausenbaugh said should be completed around February.
