Optimism and positive expectations for the future are essential elements in a healthy community.  Good times may come and go, but the expectations of something better in the future fuels a community's desire to work, grow, build and nurture.

To assess confidence in the future among Hall Countians, the Healthy Hall survey posed a series of questions related to education, government, employment, and quality of life. 

Summary Of Key Findings In This Section:  

Hall Countians appear to be generally happy.  91% are confident about the future at least some of the time.  93% feel calm and peaceful, at least some of the time.  10% say they are afraid or nervous about their futures most of the time.

• 20% believe local public schools are doing an excellent job preparing children for the future.  Another 55% said the schools are doing a somewhat good job.

• 52% believe their elected officials are working to make Hall County a better place.  Long-term Hall residents are less likely to feel this way, however, than those who have lived in Hall less than 5 years.

• 60% are confident their jobs are secure, at least for the next year.  Those with lower levels of education, however, are far less confident about the future of their jobs.

• 73% of those working feel they have opportunities to advance in their jobs.

• Most workers in Hall County (92.5%) say they are happy in their jobs, significantly higher than workers across the country.

• More Hall Countians are concerned about water and air quality now than in 1998.  34% said water was clean five years ago, compared to 27% now.  38% said air quality was very clean five years ago compared with 25% in 2003.  

Following are more detailed responses to questions
 about their connection to the community:

Introduction 

Healthy Hall Members

Notes On Secondary Research

Hall County Survey Results

Who Responded To This Survey?

Assessment Findings:


Health

Safety & Security

Connections to the Community

Confidence in the Future  

How important is education to success?  What kind of job are schools doing to prepare children for the future?

Almost all Hall Countians believe that education is an important factor contributing to future success. In fact, 92% of those surveyed said education is very important and an additional 7% said it is somewhat important.  Less than 1% of those surveyed said that education is unimportant to future success.

When asked what kind of job schools are doing to prepare children for the future, 20% said an excellent job.   Just over half (54.5%) said the schools are doing a somewhat good job, followed by 8% who say a somewhat bad job and 4% that say poor. Thirteen percent of those surveyed said they did not know how to respond.

Those most likely to be enthusiastic about the jobs schools are doing are those who have less than a high school education themselves--25% of those without high school diplomas feel that schools do an excellent job, compared with 13% of those who have a bachelors degree.

Among African-Americans in the survey, 41% said the schools are doing an excellent job compared to 25.5% of Latinos and only 16% of Whites.

Do you agree or disagree with this statement:  our elected officials are working to make the community a better place.

This question, intended to measure confidence and/or cynicism in local government, shows some ambivalence.  While 52% somewhat agree with this statement, only one in five Hall Countians (19%) strongly agree.

Males are substantially less likely to agree with this statement than females--29% of men said they either somewhat disagree or strongly disagree with this statement, compared with just 15% of females.

Those who have lived in the county less than five years are a little more likely to express a positive view of local government than those who have lived in Hall 20 years or more.  Those with graduate degrees are local government's biggest boosters—30% say they strongly agree with the statement, while another 59% somewhat agree.  Those expressing the most negative appraisals are those with some college study and those with high school diplomas only.While there are not substantial geographic differences in how Hall Countians respond to this question about their leaders, some interesting variations occur.  Those living within the Gainesville city limits are somewhat less likely to agree with this statement about their elected officials.  Those in the rural areas of North and East Hall County are somewhat more likely to agree. 

Those in the southern part of the county are slightly more negative in their response than their neighbors to the north, but not as negative as those in Gainesville proper.  A focus group in South Halll (see next section) providessome additional insight.  The group expressed high satisfaction with law county enforcement, but voiced significant concerns over road construction, crowded schools and other infrastructure inadequacies.

Are you employed? Are you employed in Hall County?

Two thirds of the Healthy Hall sample (64%) are employed. Those who are not tend to be over age 61 and likely in their retirement years.  Some who are not working are disabled (18%).  Seven percent say they are not working because they are either laid off or between jobs.

The majority of those working—74%-- are employed within Hall County. Those most likely to be working outside of Hall County are those who have lived here in the county for less than 5 years; 45% of these newcomers work elsewhere.

How confident are you that your job is secure, at least for the next year?

Most working adults in the survey (60%) are very confident that their job is secure, at least for the year ahead. In addition, 26% of those responding said they are somewhat confident about the future of their job. 

Those most likely to express a lack of confidence are younger workers. For example, 19% of those under age 30 say they are somewhat unconfident or not at all confident about their job in the year ahead.

There is certainly a relationship between educational level and confidence on the job. Among those with bachelors degrees 83% say they are confident their jobs are secure.  Further, 79% of those with graduate degrees express such confidence.  However, just 40% of those working without a high school diploma, and 46% of those with a high school diploma only express confidence their jobs are secure.

Do you feel that you are adequately skilled/prepared to perform your job well?  Do you feel that you are adequately skilled/prepared to advance in your job?

According to the survey, virtually all working adults – 97% of those surveyed – believe they are adequately skilled and prepared to perform their job well. This confidence exists across the board, with all demographic groups reporting equally optimistic responses.

  However, respondents are slightly less optimistic when asked if they are skilled or prepared to advance in their jobs.  While overall 84% said they do feel adequately prepared to advance, older workers and those with less education expressed diminished optimism. For example, only 74% of workers 51-60 feel they are adequately prepared to advance compared with 91% of workers under 40. 

Again, education is a factor in confidence on the job.  Among high school dropouts 75% say they are adequately prepared to advance in their jobs.  However, 88% of high school graduates, and 87% of those with associate's degrees or bachelors degrees express such optimism.   

                      Attitudes Among Hall County Workers

• Those Expressing Confidence Their Job Is Secure                              86%

• Those Who Feel They Are Adequately Prepared For Their Job                            

• Those Who Feel Adequately Prepared To Advance In Job                  84%

• Those Who Feel They Have Opportunities To Advance                       73%

• Those Who Say They Are Happy At Work                                           93%

Do you feel that you have opportunities to advance in your job?

Of course, much of the motivation to prepare to advance on the job comes from feeling that one has legitimate opportunities for advancement.  Among workers responding to the Healthy Hall survey, 73% feel they have opportunities to advance in their jobs, compared with 23% who do not. 

Older workers, those over age 51, are less likely than their younger counterparts to feel that they have opportunities to advance. For example, 65% of 51-60 year olds and 42% of those 61-70 feel they have opportunities to advance, compared to 80% of those age 18-30 and 78% of those age 31-40. 

While the significance is uncertain, it is interesting to note that those who are overweight are less likely to feel they have opportunities to advance.  Of those who say they are overweight, 64% believe they have opportunities to advance on the job, compared with 80% among those who feel that their weight is about right.

Are you happy in your job?

Hall County workers are apparently a happy lot, with 92.5% saying that yes, they are happy in their jobs. Only 7% said they are not happy.  Those most likely to say they are not happy on the job are those with a high school diploma only and Blacks.  Among African-American workers in the study, 25% say they are not happy in their jobs.

How do you rate the air quality in Hall County? How do you rate the water quality in Hall County?

Evaluations of air quality are down somewhat compared to the Healthy Hall Survey of 1998. Four years ago, 37.5% of Hall Countians said air quality was very clean.  This compares with only 25% who said very clean in the 2003 survey. 

In 1998, 34% of respondents said water quality was very clean.  In 2003, 27% said very clean.

The most significant changes in attitudes from 1998 to 2003 occur within those people who feel air and water are somewhat clean as opposed to very clean. In 1998, for example, 31% of Hall Countians said air quality somewhat clean and 29% said that water quality was somewhat clean. In 2003 those saying somewhat clean rose to 54% for air quality and 47% for water quality. 

At the same time, significantly fewer respondents said air and water are very polluted.  In 1998, 14% said air was very polluted and 18% said water was very polluted.  In 2003, only 3% said air is very polluted while 6% said water is very polluted.  These differences may indicate increased uncertainty in the county over the status of air and water quality.

The only significant variations in attitudes about air and water appear to be between men and women.  Men are twice as likely as women to rate air quality very clean. Older Hall Countians, over age 70, are also more likely to rate air and water as very clean.

Looking at results geographically, those most likely to say the air is polluted live in the area of southeast Gainesville along Highway 129 (zip code 30507).Those more likely to say water is polluted live in the Flowery Branch/South Hall area and in Murrayville, located in the northwest part of the county. 

The findings for south Hall and water quality are supported by the South Hall focus group, were lake water quality and wastewater treatment were cited as major issues.

Within the past 4 weeks have you felt afraid/nervous about your future?

This question was intended to measure personal confidence in the future. Ten percent said they are nervous about the future most of the time, and an additional 25% said they are afraid or nervous about the future some of the time.   Almost two-thirds of those surveyed (64.5%) said that they are almost never afraid or nervous about their futures.

This response is very similar to results of the 1998 Healthy Hall survey, when 8% said they were nervous all or most of the time and an additional 24% said some of the time.

Marriage may be therapeutic for nervousness.  While 8% of married respondents say they feel nervous most of the time, 18% of those divorced or separated, and 19% of those living with an unmarried partner feel this way.  Money is also a factor—18% of the lowest wage earners feel nervous most of the time, compared to just 2% of those earning more than $90,000 annually.

Within the past 4 weeks have you ever felt so down in the dumps that nothing could cheer you up?

Most in the survey--78%--never feel this way.  However, 21% do feel down in the dumps, at least some of the time. This is similar to, but slightly improved over, the 1998 Healthy Hall study when 31% of respondents said they feel down in the dumps most or some of the time.

Those most likely to feel depressed are, perhaps not surprisingly, those who are separated or divorced, and those whose state of health is fair or poor. Those who lack a high school degree and who earn less than $25,000 per year are also more likely to feel depressed.  Among the best educated Hall Countians, more than 92% say they never feel down in the dumps.

Within the past 4 weeks have you felt calm and peaceful?

Age and health seem to be major factors in whether one feels calm and peaceful.  While overall 70% said they feel this way most of the time, 81% of those over 70 do.  Further, 76% of those with excellent health feel this way, compared to just 61% of those who say their health is fair or poor. 

Response to this question also appears to trend favorably to the 1998 study, when only 44% said they felt calm and peaceful most or all of the time.

Within the past 4 weeks have you felt happy and confident about the future?

Most Hall Countians (66%) say they do feel happy and confident about the future most of the time.

Education and marital status are significant indicators of confidence in the future. For example, 18% of those lacking high school degrees say that they almost never feel happy and confident about the future. This compares with only 3% of those who have a college degree.

Among those who are married, 70% say that they are happy and confident most of the time, compared with 62.5% of those who live with unmarried partners and 47% of those who have never married.

A Barometer Of Hall County Emotions and Attitudes

In the past 4 weeks have you been . . .

Afraid/Nervous About Future?

• Most Of Time 10%

• Some Of The 25%

• Almost Never 65%

So Down In Dumps Nothing Can Cheer You?

• Most Of Time 7%

• Some Of The 14%

• Almost Never 78%

Calm and Peaceful?

• Most Of Time 70%

• Some Of The 23%

• Almost Never 6%

Happy and Confident About The Future?

• Most Of Time 66%

• Some Of The 25%

• Almost Never 7%

In your opinion, what are the most important issues facing people in our community?

Responses to this open-ended question are quite diverse, but it is clear that economics and crime are major concerns for many Hall Countians (see chart on following page).

Of the 459 responses to this question, the largest number (72 or 16% of those responding) cited the struggling economy and the need for jobs.  This seems to parallel the national mood in 2003 and also complements almost precisely the 14% in the survey who did not believe their job to be secure for the next year.  The next most cited issues are related—crime and gangs.  In fact, many of the priority issues are related: immigration and population; morality, crime and substance abuse; traffic and infrastructure.

Priorities have changed somewhat since the Healthy Hall survey in 1998, when pollution and environmental concerns topped the list for this question.  Population growth was the second most frequently cited concern followed, as in 2003, by gangs and immigration.