Traffic, open space, water, and affordable housing.
Those are topics Cache Valley residents most want to see in news coverage, according to results of a survey we recently distributed to people throughout the area.
The questionnaire was taken by 252 people from Feb. 18 to March 22, after being sent to local government officials, posted on popular social media channels, and blasted out to readers of The Salt Lake Tribune and Utah Public Radio weekly newsletters.
We asked specifically how readers felt about rapid growth and affordable housing. Spoiler: Both topics have residents worried.
Just under 80% of participants were either very concerned or somewhat concerned about rapid growth. Another 13% were neutral on the issue, and only 7% were not very concerned or not concerned at all.
Affordable housing elicited similar levels of concern, with almost 80% of participants saying they were very or somewhat concerned. Another 14% were neutral and just 6% said they were not very concerned or not concerned at all.
We also asked participants which areas they think should be top priority for Cache Valley leaders.
Respondents were able to pick three options. We found that there were four answers selected by more than 70 respondents: traffic and transportation, preserving open space, water conservation, and affordable housing.
In an open-ended question, many participants additionally suggested we delve further into the topics you’d likely expect — city governments, community planning, transportation, and arts and culture.
One respondent asked that we shun “fluffy feelgood” stories and focus on the harsher, expensive realities many young people face as they try to have kids and buy homes.
Others asked us to do the opposite and explore positive actions people are taking and unique communities.
In short, people seem to want two things from us — news that exposes the problems that can sometimes make things feel hopeless, and stories that remind people they aren’t.
Fair enough. We’ll see what we can do.