Survey Results by Location

"I think more people got out to vote on the issue of the trailer park than they did in the last presidential election!" -Small Town Resident

"I have attended a lot of meetings, and I'm really amazed at the number of people that are working in order to improve the community. And some of them are--as the old saying goes--willing to put their money where their mouth is. Which I think is unusual for a city this size." -Alternative Transportation Advocate

"Everybody likes the rural but nobody likes to get involved like they used to." -Small Town Resident

Citizens Speak

"The strength of the community is the people involved. People make things happen. Government doesn't make it happen. And I'm really concerned about where this is going." -Business Person

"I think for a long time, government was relied upon by the citizens to do things. -I think now we're trying to turn back to getting people involved again. And there are communities where they're reaching out - trying to get citizens involved in Futuring, and planning, and I think that's a strong point we have." -Alternative Transportation Advocate

"A big asset in my eyes is that I still think there's a lot of people that are tied to the community that care." -Business Person

"[Kalamazoo] is small enough that I have a feeling that I can have an effect on how things are done here, if I'm willing to put the time and energy into it - to speak out, or to work in a group or whatever." -Service Organization Member

"There's plenty of opportunity to have your voice heard. And we're lucky in that regard. I mean, letters are all read, filed, things like that. So I think there's lots of opportunity for citizen input. But not that many people, I'm surprised, really do speak up or come to things like this." -Alternative Transportation Advocate