A three-year Gallup study of 26 U.S. cities has found that
peoples' love and passion for their community may be a leading indicator for
local economic growth.
Surprisingly -- according to the study -- social offerings,
openness and beauty are far more important than peoples' perceptions of the
economy, jobs or basic services in creating a lasting emotional bond between
people and their community.
Love your community?
The 26 cities in the survey with the highest levels of
resident love and passion for their community, or resident attachment, also had
the highest rates of GDP growth over time.
"This study is important because its findings about
emotional attachment to place point to a new perspective that we encourage
leaders to consider," said Paula Ellis, Knight Foundation's vice president for
strategic initiatives. "It is especially valuable as we aim to strengthen our
communities during this tough economic time."
Jon Clifton, deputy director of the Gallup World Poll, who
conducted the survey with funding from the John S. and James L. Knight
Foundation, says the survey "offers new approaches for communities to organize
themselves to attract businesses, keep residents and holistically improve their
local economic vitality."
Affinity counts
Three community qualities -- social offerings, openness and
beauty -- have consistently emerged as the leading drivers for community
attachment over the study's three years of research. They beat out other
possible drivers such as perceptions of local economy, leadership and safety
across all of the 26 cities included in the Knight "Soul of the Community" survey.
The survey explores the
connection between local economic growth and peoples' emotional bond to a
place. Three years of survey data clearly show a significant, positive link
between resident attachment and local GDP growth.
"Our theory is that when a community's residents are highly
attached, they will spend more time there, spend more money, they're more
productive and tend to be more entrepreneurial," Clifton said. "The study bears
out that theory and now provides all community leaders the knowledge they need
to make a sustainable impact on their community."
Within a smaller environment, such as a company, Gallup has
been able to show that increasing employees' emotional connection to their
company leads to improved financial performance of the organization. Experts
continue to explore if the emotional connection to the place where one lives
drives economic growth for these communities in a similar way. Gallup's
previous work in U.S. communities and abroad shows that in fact emotional
connection does drive economic growth.
Surprising constants
Despite declines in the economy since the study was begun in
2008, the researchers found some surprising constants:
- The things that create the greatest emotional connection between people and their community -- social offerings, openness and aesthetics -- have remained stable for three years and are consistent among the 26 cities studied. These three things reliably rated highest among 10 drivers of resident attachment, which also included: civic involvement, social capital, education, perception of the local economy, leadership, safety, emotional well-being and basic services.
- The link between local GDP and residents' emotional bonds to a place has remained steady despite declines in the economy over the three years of the study. Communities with residents who are more attached to a place show stronger growth even in tough economic times.
- People's perception of their community's performance in social offerings, openness and beauty has a greater impact on their emotional bonds to a place than their demographic characteristics.
- Perception of the local economy is not a leading reason
residents create an emotional bond to a place.
Useful findings
Leaders in three of the 26 cities surveyed -- Miami,
Charlotte and Detroit -- already have plans in place to use the findings to
help transform their communities. For example, The Miami Foundation, formerly
Dade Community Foundation, will use the research to identify needs specific to
the South Florida region -- and address them through advocating for public
policy changes or taking direct action.
The following communities were included in the survey: Aberdeen, S.D.; Akron, Ohio; Biloxi, Miss.; Boulder, Colo.; Bradenton, Fla.; Charlotte, N.C.; Columbia, S.C.; Columbus, Ga.; Detroit, Mich.; Duluth, Minn.; Fort Wayne, Ind.; Gary, Ind.; Grand Forks, N.D.; Lexington, Ky.; Long Beach, Calif.; Macon, Ga.; Miami, Fla.; Milledgeville, Ga.; Myrtle Beach, S.C.; Palm Beach, Fla.; Philadelphia, Pa.; San Jose, Calif.; St. Paul, Minn.; State College, Pa.; Tallahassee, Fla.; and Wichita, Kan.
