2014 Life in Hampton Roads Survey Part 1: Quality of Life Up, but Challenges Remain
August 18, 2014
The 2014 Life in Hampton Roads (LIHR) survey conducted by the Old Dominion University Social Science Research Center (SSRC) shows an improving quality of life in the region.
The majority of those interviewed for this year's survey (71.2 percent) reported that the overall quality of life in Hampton Roads was excellent or good - the highest portion of respondents since 2010 - while 28.4 percent found it to be fair or poor.
"A key take-away is that life is getting better in Hampton Roads," said SSRC Director Jesse Richman.
The LIHR Survey's "Regional, Neighborhood and City Quality of Life" report is the first in a five-part series that starts today and continues through the week. The survey is designed to examine social and economic indicators of quality of life in Hampton Roads, with particular focus on transportation and traffic, local and state government, education, health, emergency preparedness, the economy and crime.
Upcoming reports include:
- A Tale of Many Cities: Economy, Crime, and Politics (August 19, 2014)
- Declining Health and Diminishing Education? (August 20, 2014)
- The Changing Transportation Picture: Tolls and Traffic (August 21, 2014)
- Under Water? Sea Level Rise and Environmental Risks (August 22, 2014)
The LIHR has been conducted with support from the ODU Office of Research and the College of Arts and Letters since 2010 and is now in its fifth year. The 2014 survey used random-digit technology to contact 853 residents of the Hampton Roads region on cellular and land-line telephones. The results were weighted to match the demographics of each city.
Recreational opportunities remain essential to the region's quality of life, while crime and transportation are key challenges
More than a quarter of survey respondents (230) cited recreation opportunities (e.g. beaches, museums, sports and parks) as a reason the regional quality of life was good or excellent. Crime was the most commonly cited reason for giving a fair or poor rating for quality of life in Hampton Roads. "Several respondents specifically noted recent high-profile shootings that have eroded their sense of safety when asked their reasons for a low quality of life rating," Richman said. "Ninety-nine of the 853 respondents specifically mentioned crime or public safety as a negative factor in Hampton Roads' quality of life."
Transportation issues, including poor road quality, bridges, traffic congestion, public transit limitations and tolls were the second most often cited negative, with 74 survey participants indicating transportation problems were degrading their quality of life.
"Transportation challenges remain a drag on the regional quality of life, as they have been for years," Richman added.
For the first time, the Old Dominion Survey also released city and zip-code level analyses of sub-regional quality of life. Richman said he hoped this would help shine a spotlight on particular strengths in the region, while providing an incentive for other areas to improve. He cautioned, however, that readers should remember that sub-population analyses come with much more uncertainty than the overall survey's 3.7 percent margin of error because sample sizes are smaller.
Quality of life varies in Hampton Roads from location to location
Reported city quality of life varied a great deal. At the top, 87.3 percent of respondents from Chesapeake rated the quality of life in their city as good or excellent, as did 83.8 percent of respondents from Virginia Beach. Suffolk was slightly lower, with 74 percent rating city quality of life good or excellent. Hampton and Newport News ranked substantially lower, at 59.8 percent and 51.9 percent, respectively. Finally, Norfolk and Portsmouth ranked lowest at 49.7 percent and 44.6 percent.
Neighborhood quality of life varies widely across the region. There were five zip codes in which less than one-third of respondents said their neighborhood quality of life was good or excellent and five zip codes in which 100 percent of respondents said their neighborhood quality of life was good or excellent. The zip codes 23607, 23702, 23661, 23324 and 23504 received the lowest neighborhood quality of life ratings, while 23455, 23707, 23321, 23510 and 23435 received the highest ratings.
The high quality of life zip codes include a range of different living situations, from the relatively rural 23435 in Suffolk to the densely urban downtown 23510 in Norfolk.
"There are a variety of kinds of places in the region where people find excellent quality of life," Richman said. "I hope this is cause for celebration and the highest rated areas will continue to build on their strengths, while additional attention is given by regional leaders in the lowest rated areas."
Overall perception: quality of life moving in positive direction
Overall, the 2014 Life in Hampton Roads survey shows that public perception of the region's quality of life is moving in a modestly positive direction, even as city and neighborhood quality of life ratings reveal substantial variation across the region.
"The survey also helps set the agenda for ongoing efforts to improve the regional quality of life, placing an emphasis on crime and transportation as leading challenges that diminish regional quality of life, and on recreation as a key strength," Richman suggested.
All LIHR Data Analyses will be posted on the SSRC website (www.odu.edu/ssrc) as they are released each day. Data includes detailed graphs and analysis for all of the questions discussed above, and others.