Southerners Like their Way of Life
Safer and Friendlier
Southerners believe they live in safer, friendlier communities, brimming with more economic and recreational opportunities than anywhere else in the country, according to survey results released by the region's governors Monday.
Many hold fast to traditional ties of family, community and church, even as they embrace the need for greater economic growth, two national pollsters told chief executives attending the Southern Governors Association Conference.
"Southern people are highly satisfied with conditions, highly satisfied with the quality of life," Republican pollster Dick Dresner said. "There are no longer any traces of any sense of being behind the rest of the country or a sense of inferiority."
The SGA commissioned the survey as part of its focus on the South's quality of life as a major attraction for luring high-technology companies to the region.
Fifteen percent of those surveyed rated the South's quality of life much better than in other parts of the country, while 33 percent said it was better and 35 percent said living in the South was about the same as anywhere else.
Six percent felt the Southern quality of life was worse than in other parts of the country, and 2 percent rated life much worse than in other places.
Dresner and Democratic pollster Paul Maslin conducted a telephone survey of 814 randomly selected adults residents of SGA states and territories between Aug. 21 and Aug. 25. The survey has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.4 percent.
By a 2-to-1 margin, respondents said they were satisfied with their jobs, business and investment opportunities, and the availability of the latest techonology in the South. Blacks, particularly black women, were less satisfied with economic conditions.
About a third of the respondents had school-age children, and 77 percent of them enrolled their children in public schools.
Fifty-one percent rated their schools as excellent or above average, and 31 percent rated Southern schools as better than schools elsewhere in the country.
"It's not an overwhelming affirmation, but certainly there is no sense that the region trails when it comes to education," Dresner said.
Sixty-two percent of those surveyed believed a surge in high-tech business in the region was a good thing, while 24 percent viewed high-tech growth as bad because of such potential side-effects as sprawl or pollution.
Maryland Governor Parris N. Glendening said southern governors need to work hard to make sure residents understand they can have technology-spurred growth without the undesirable side-effects.
"People are confusing economic growth...with the issue of sprawl, congestion and loss of environment," he said. "The real challenge for us is to figure out how we can have a really strong growing and expanding economy and not mean that it automatically leads to sprawl and degradation."
"We do not have to give up our air quality and our water quality to get jobs," Georgia Gov. Roy Barnes said.
Nearly two-thirds of respondents said attending regular worship services, living close to a house of worship in their own denomination or being part of a close-knit faith community was important to them.
The survey found Southerners enjoyed a varied and active recreational life. Sixty-six percent said they walk or run regularly, 47 percent said they hunted or fished more than once a year and 30 percent said they played golf or tennis more than once a year.
Other popular recreational activities included swimming, cycling, playing team sports, boating and hiking and camping.
Courtsey of Hot Springs SENTINEL RECORD 9-26-00
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