Sense Of Community |
OVERVIEW
To assess sense of community among Carlsbad residents, a seven-question series known as the “Brief Sense of Community Index ” was utilized. The seven-question series assesses the three underlying dimensions of sense of community: “Social connections,” “Mutual concerns,” and “Community values.” The questions used to measure sense of community among Carlsbad residents are displayed in Table 1, with the total level of agreement with each statement shown in the last column on the right (disagreement shown for reverse-coded items).
Carlsbad residents reported the highest level of agreement with items relating to “Community values” (75.5% average across items) although they also believed it was important to have strong “Mutual concerns” (74.4% average) and “Social connections” (66.8% average) in their community.
Table 1: Sense of Community Index
Figure 7: Level of Agreement with Items
Overall, 47.9 percent of residents agreed with at least six of the seven items and were classified as having a “High” sense of community. Forty percent of residents agreed with between two and five items and we labeled in the “Medium” category. Conversely, 12.0 percent of respondents agreed with zero or only one of the questions and were classified as having a “Low” sense of community.
Figure 8: Sense of Community Index Levels
Below is an analysis of sense of community levels by residents sub-group.
- Sense of community was positively correlated with a number of factors throughout the survey, including satisfaction with city services, satisfaction with city-resident communication, ratings for the job the City does providing residents with important information, confidence in city government, and perceptions regarding the direction of the community.
- Sense of community was highest among residents who reported feeling “Very safe” walking alone in their neighborhood (during the day or after dark).
- The proportion of residents in the high sense of community group increased as length of residence increased.
- Homeowners were more likely to have a high sense of community, whereas renters were more likely to have a low sense of community.
- Residents with children had a higher sense of community than those without children in the home.
- A higher proportion of residents in zip codes 92009 and 92011 were in the low sense of community group as compared to residents in 92008 and 92010.
- Residents who typically visited the Village once a week had a higher sense of community than those who visited less than once a month.
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