One Community -- Many Generations

Wayne  County Cohort of Agencies Launches Livability Survey

A promotion social media post encourage people to take the Livability Survey including QR Code Opens in new windowWayne Tomorrow! fielded a cohort of organizations to participate in a new community development program called One Community -- Many Generations, created by Penn State Extension Service with the support of a grant from AARP.

One Community – Many Generations aims to create more livable and inclusive communities by engaging residents and community leaders. Through the AARP grant, Penn State Extension developed an intergenerational community engagement guide and online community survey.

Led by Mikki Uzupes, who serves as President of the Wayne Library Alliance and Co-chair of the Wayne Tomorrow! Community Hubs Task Force, the cohort also includes the following: Mary Ursich , County Area Agency on Aging; Elizabeth Lopez, Wayne County YMCA; Michele Minor Wolf, Victims Intervention Program; Dave Hartung, Wayne County System of Care; Margaret Allen, Wayne Memorial Hospital/Health System; Kim McGinnis, WEDCO; and Mike Uretsky, a retired professor from the NYU Stern School of Business.

“We are planning to engage many others groups and organizations in helping us promote the Livability Survey, which has been modified to reflect the needs of Wayne Tomorrow!” Uzupes explained. The broad group of stakeholders will be asked to dive into the results of the assessments and work to identify potential community improvement projects.

Wayne Tomorrow! leapt at the chance to participate in the Penn State Program for a variety of reasons:

  • The ability to customize a professionally developed survey tool;
  • The opportunity to work with Penn State to interpret the results;
  • To complement the work of the WT! Community Hubs Task Force
  • To provide high quality data for other planning efforts.
  • To encourage intergenerational planning, programs and policy development at all levels.

The Livability Survey works to improve livability in a community by facilitating an exchange of ideas among generations and capturing that feedback, which can then be used to develop action plans that address issues residents identify as important.

The survey has been designed to gauge how people feel about different aspects of the community. It gathers some important demographic information, including their general location (Newfoundland to Starrucca and beyond) and then asks them to rate how much they think it needs to be improved. The survey seeks input on quality of life, community services and more.

It will take a bit of time to fill out, but it is expected to yield some very valuable information that will be used to identify projects and develop action plans for achieving them. In fact, the program calls for the cohort to undertake one or more projects as a result of what they learn.

The survey is available online through May 10 and paper copies can be accessed at your local library or senior center or you can download the survey. Penn State officials work with the cohort to interpret the results of the study, which will be presented at a public forum.

The survey results will also be valuable as a variety of projects move forward such as the Greater Honesdale Partnership’s Downtown Revitalization Program.

Download the Survey.

Developed by Penn State-AARP Partnership

Through a grant  partnership with AARP, Penn State Extension developed an intergenerational community engagement guide and online  community assessment tool. The assessment tool aims to  improve livability in a community through intergenerational  exchange and feedback capture. Communities can utilize this guide and assessment tool to gather feedback from residents about walking routes, transportation, economic issues,  placemaking, infrastructure, community livability, and more.  The feedback can then be used to develop action plans that  address issues that residents identify as important. 

Through this process communities will:

  • Engage a diverse group of stakeholders.
  • Conduct community outreach and participant recruitment by targeting community leaders and age-diverse volunteers.
  • Gather feedback from residents on 6 indicators of community livability and inclusion:
    • Quality of Place
    • Diversity & Inclusion
    • Business & Economy
    • Housing
    • Community Services
    • Transportation
  • Facilitate intergenerational conversations and community study activities aimed at developing action plans for potential development.
  • Prepare community leaders for decision-making and action planning.
  • Better understand the value of inclusive planning and ways to create intergenerational interaction.    
Scan this code to access the Livability Survey for Wayne Tomorrow!