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Now that the city of Grass Valley has finished its survey, the City Council needs to use it to create a coherent vision for the future.
In one sense, the survey of 338 randomly selected residents reveals few surprises. Topping the list of concerns are traffic, growth, affordable housing, jobs and drug use, which although rated as the top worry is not a divisive issue.
It is a different story for the remaining top concerns. Our rate of growth, how we grow and the traffic that follows have driven a wedge between many residents of Grass Valley.
The survey, however, does send a mixed message about how we feel about these issues.
When asked what is the most serious problem facing Grass Valley, 21 percent said traffic and congestion and another 20 percent said it is growth and development occurring too fast. Only 8 percent called housing costs and affordable housing a serious problem.
When asked, however, to rate the seriousness of problems, 69 percent said the cost of housing is an extremely/very serious problem and 64 percent said the same about the lack of affordable housing.
Fifty-seven percent said traffic congestion and the lack of good-paying jobs are extremely/very serious problems, while 47 percent cited too much growth and development. Finally, 46 percent cited poor road conditions.
So what does this all mean?
It seems fair to say that most residents are concerned about traffic and growth. How much, however, can Grass Valley do to control traffic when it is the economic hub of a growing county?
County supervisors, for example, recently approved the 388-unit Wildwood Ridge Phase II project that will feature mostly high-end houses that likely will attract newcomers to the area. What can the city of Grass Valley do about the traffic that project will generate down the road?
Is there any way the city can limit incoming traffic from county subdivisions outside of putting the brakes on business growth or expansion? And if the city were to do that, how would it respond to the 46 percent who cited potholes and deteriorating roads as an extremely/very serious problem?
The city is also identifying projects that will be designed to ease congestion, but those too will require public funds.
The city can take steps to bring relatively affordable housing to Grass Valley. It should require developers and contractors to build modest houses and condominiums that can provide housing for people who already work here but are forced to commute from other communities, which puts more traffic on our highways and through intersections like Idaho-Maryland Road and East Main Street.
If it were able to do that, the city may become more attractive to companies that do offer higher-paying jobs, which is something the majority of survey respondents said the city needs.
Taking the survey information and using it to create a policy that benefits the entire community is easier said than done. But let's hope that individual councilors will resist the temptation to cherry-pick the survey to fortify already established positions.
It is time for solutions that move the community forward and help the working class retain a foothold here.
In one sense, the survey of 338 randomly selected residents reveals few surprises. Topping the list of concerns are traffic, growth, affordable housing, jobs and drug use, which although rated as the top worry is not a divisive issue.
It is a different story for the remaining top concerns. Our rate of growth, how we grow and the traffic that follows have driven a wedge between many residents of Grass Valley.
The survey, however, does send a mixed message about how we feel about these issues.
When asked what is the most serious problem facing Grass Valley, 21 percent said traffic and congestion and another 20 percent said it is growth and development occurring too fast. Only 8 percent called housing costs and affordable housing a serious problem.
When asked, however, to rate the seriousness of problems, 69 percent said the cost of housing is an extremely/very serious problem and 64 percent said the same about the lack of affordable housing.
Fifty-seven percent said traffic congestion and the lack of good-paying jobs are extremely/very serious problems, while 47 percent cited too much growth and development. Finally, 46 percent cited poor road conditions.
So what does this all mean?
It seems fair to say that most residents are concerned about traffic and growth. How much, however, can Grass Valley do to control traffic when it is the economic hub of a growing county?
County supervisors, for example, recently approved the 388-unit Wildwood Ridge Phase II project that will feature mostly high-end houses that likely will attract newcomers to the area. What can the city of Grass Valley do about the traffic that project will generate down the road?
Is there any way the city can limit incoming traffic from county subdivisions outside of putting the brakes on business growth or expansion? And if the city were to do that, how would it respond to the 46 percent who cited potholes and deteriorating roads as an extremely/very serious problem?
The city is also identifying projects that will be designed to ease congestion, but those too will require public funds.
The city can take steps to bring relatively affordable housing to Grass Valley. It should require developers and contractors to build modest houses and condominiums that can provide housing for people who already work here but are forced to commute from other communities, which puts more traffic on our highways and through intersections like Idaho-Maryland Road and East Main Street.
If it were able to do that, the city may become more attractive to companies that do offer higher-paying jobs, which is something the majority of survey respondents said the city needs.
Taking the survey information and using it to create a policy that benefits the entire community is easier said than done. But let's hope that individual councilors will resist the temptation to cherry-pick the survey to fortify already established positions.
It is time for solutions that move the community forward and help the working class retain a foothold here.
