January 1996                                                                                               Lansing, MI
Clifford on View

Hello everyone!! We would like to thank you for your participation in the survey that we conducted a few months ago. The survey was for the purpose of seeing how strongly a sense of community exists on your block. As a way of expressing our appreciation for your active participation in our study, we have designed this newsletter specifically for your block to share with you what we learned from the survey. The information you provided enabled us to know and understand how different and unique Clifford Street is from the rest of the neighborhoods in Lansing.

Let's take a look at what 12 of your neighbors said about Clifford Street.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

1996


CLIFFORD RESIDENTS CONNECT

More than half of the people we interviewed agreed that residents on your block know and like each other and socialize with each other.About three-quarters believed that people trust each other. Consistent with these statements is the demonstrated supportive atmosphere that exists among the residents in terms of neighboring, that is, borrowing from and lending things to each other; taking care of each others' plants, pets, kids; giving each other a ride; and watching out for each other.


RESIDENTS SUPPORT RECYCLING AND COMMUNITY CLEAN-UP!

According to your neighbors, residents participate less in community activities, in particular, social activities, partly because there are very few organized ones. There are not very many because no one seems to be willing to organize social activities for the neighborhood. Seventy-five percent (75%) of you said you are not interested at all in becoming leaders for the block. However, your block indicated a very high rate of curbside recycling and community clean-up participation. This implies that residents do care about the appearance of the neighborhood and the environment in general.

There was an overwhelmingly high frequency of "I like my neighbor" responses from those of you we interviewed. In addition, "friendly people, nice and quiet neighborhood," ranked the highest among response to the question, "What is the best thing about living on Clifford Street?"

Many of you said that a good interpersonal relationship exists among neighbors, and that residents stick together in many situations. One of you mentioned, "when we speak up, people listen."

Decaying Houses: A major problem affecting Clifford residents.

Almost all of you expressed concern for the decaying and rundown looking houses on the block. Residents are concerned about the negative perception that the public may have toward the neighborhood. Also, the vacant houses on the block contribute to the mounting problem of housing decay and neglect.

Crime has been cited by several of your neighbors as the next most commonly mentioned serious problem. In addition, almost all of you agreed that there is a need to have a clear leader on the block whom one could approach regarding community events and other activities that promote sense of community on the block. But overall, you indicated that Clifford residents care for one another and think positively toward increasing the sense of community on the block.

"WE CAN DO IT"

Although there was a lack of interest in assuming a leadership role from those we interviewed, many of you indicated support and willingness to work with each other in improving the conditions on the block. The attitude of cooperation and collectively accomplishing something for the neighborhood was demonstrated in the response of the interviewees. More than half of you neighbors said:

Overall, we were left with the impression that "sense of community" exists among residents on Clifford Street, and that people have the capacity and willingness to work together to improve the conditions on the block.

If you want to know more about this survey, call John Schweitzer at 353-9144,
Urban Affairs Programs, Michigan State University.