These tamaracks are across the road from our house, giving the last glow of fall color from the woods.
Chuck Hayes has shared these results of a comprehensive survey of Vilas County residents, conducted this summer by the Survey Research Center at UW--River Falls. The survey was designed to get input for a strategic plan for the county and was sent to 1128 random households in August 2015. From those questionnaires, 35% (400 surveys) were completed and returned, which was considered a good rate of response.
(If you didn't receive a survey in August, don't feel left out. Only 4% or 14 of the counted surveys were returned from Presque Isle Township.)
I was not surprised to read that among surveys returned, 91% said they had zero children under 18 in their homes. The ages of reporting respondents was also what we might expect: 11% at 45-54; 26% at 55-64; and 56% at 65 and older.
One set of numbers I thought may have been more positive were about "Quality of Life." Although very few people responded Poor or Fair, 34% said Good; 42% said Very Good; and 12% said Excellent.
That question included sub-headings of "Connectedness to Family and Friends," "Frequency of Social Activities," and "Frequency of and Satisfaction with Internet Reliability." So, folks could have had lots of variables in mind when they chose their answers.
One important area of questioning was about internet access across the county. When asked about frequency of internet use, 69% replied "Daily," and another 9% said, "Weekly. Among those who reported they were employed, 60% said they needed reliable internet service for their work, and 24% said they worked from their homes.
In answer to "Satisfaction with internet speed and reliability," the internet users were 17% very dissatisfied; 23% dissatisfied; 51% satisfied; and only 9% said they were very satisfied. I'm guessing this will be an area of focus for the county officials using the results of this survey.
I'll include more next week, including some of the answers to the open-ended question of why you like living in Vilas County.
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