Bob Dylan famously sang, “You don’t need a weatherman to know which way the wind blows.” While it’s hard to argue with the Bard of Hibbing, Minnesota, there are, in fact, some areas in which soliciting expert opinion and analysis can be informative and helpful.
Attitudes about Hampton Roads, for instance, are dynamic and complex. They differ depending on where people live, where and how their work, their age and outlook, and what issues inspire their passion. With about 1.9 million residents, our region is not a monolith.
That makes initiatives such as the Life in Hampton Roads survey, conducted annually by the Social Science Research Center at Old Dominion University, so valuable. By asking a representative sample of the population what it thinks about how we live and work, it provides useful insight for public officials, business leaders, community activists and ordinary citizens about the place we all call home.
ODU researchers released this year’s 16th annual survey in mid-November, just as many people’s attention turned to the logistics of Thanksgiving and an ensuing weekend of holiday gift purchases. But it shouldn’t be lost in the festive dash from turkey to tinsel, because there’s plenty of compelling information worth a thorough review.
Using 718 completed web-based surveys, the report’s authors found plenty of similarities to previous Life in Hampton Roads reports. People generally had a positive view of the region, with 68.5% of respondents saying the quality of life here is “excellent” or “good.” That’s a sharp increase over last year (60.1%) and in line with pre-pandemic attitudes, when 67-71% had an excellent/good view of life in the region between 2017-2020.
As in previous surveys, residents also offered more positive views of their cities than the region as a whole. Some 71.4% said their community was excellent/good, while only 4.9% said quality of life was poor in their city. Once again, Virginia Beach residents led the way, with an 88% excellent/good response, and Portsmouth lagged behind its neighbors with only 37.5% saying their quality of life is excellent/good.
Where this survey really shines for policymakers is in its dives into attitudes about a range of public issues that were top priorities for voters in November and which continue to be points of concern for cities in our region.
On the economy, for instance, more than half (51.3%) described regional conditions as good (45.4%) or excellent (5.9%), but 11.3% said someone in their household had involuntarily lost a job in the last year and 34.9% say their economic condition is worse than one year ago.
On housing affordability, “61-81% of all respondents reported moderate to major housing cost burden” across the region, with 48.7% saying that “housing in their neighborhood is either somewhat unaffordable (34%) or very unaffordable (14.7%) for people with a household income similar to theirs.”
Importantly, 62.8% of respondents said that risk of flooding significantly influenced their choice of where they live in Hampton Roads, 37.2% said the risk affected whether they buy or rent, and 21.3% reported that flooding influenced some other aspect of their housing situation. Those numbers are likely to increase as the flooding situation here worsens.
Public safety is a perpetual concern and it should cheer law enforcement officials to know that 70.9% of survey respondents “were either satisfied or very satisfied with their local police,” and on public education, 29% of respondents rated their local schools as fair and another 18.2% answered poor, compared to 45.1% who said the school system was excellent or good.
The recent report, which can be reviewed at the Social Science Research Center website (odu.edu/social-science-research-center), includes a lot more data worthy of review. Local officials and area residents may not need an expert to tell them which way the wind is blowing, but these are valuable insights that should guide policies as we work to build a stronger Hampton Roads.
