The Boone County Economic Development Corp. conducted a quality-of-life survey for the second year. It elicited nearly 700 responses from county residents.
“Our purpose for doing the survey is to, over time, consider how the quality-of-life here in Boone County may change and also get feedback on opportunities (residents) think could be beneficial for Boone County to attract and retain talent here in the community,” Boone County EDC Executive Director Molly Whitehead said.
The survey saw a 37 percent increase in responses compared to the 2018 survey. Whitehead said many of the responses came from transplant residents, or people who moved to Boone County but weren’t originally from the area.
Whitehead said the EDC recognizes responses may not dramatically change with each survey, but the recent survey did draw some new responses, specifically regarding the topics of industry diversification and transportation.
“The top two areas were, ‘I wish we had more types of jobs here to attract more talent, industry diversification. I would love to be able to work close to home and family (instead of commuting out of the county,)’” Whitehead said. “That aligned with the strategy we have here at Boone EDC, so I’m glad people want that as well.
“The second largest area people thought was an opportunity for us was transportation related. There was a lot of, ‘We want access to adequate transportation,’ Whitehead added. “People made reference to improving transportation ,or specific parts of a community, where they felt the roads needed some improvements.”
Most of the responses came from Zionsville and Lebanon residents. For more, visit betterinboone.org.
