An Investigation in Determining the Overall Neighborhood Unity of

Geneva’s First Ward

Elisha Law and Madelaine Hunt

Project Objectives

Create a comprehensive list of Geneva’s First Ward households

Gauge strength of formal and informal neighborhood networks and gauge civic involvement in the Geneva community among Ward 1 residents

Show if there is or is not an opportunity for the first ward counselor to mobilize neighborhood for the benefit of the Ward

Lit Review: Geneva Neighborhood Study

Explores the various neighborhoods of Geneva and builds strategies on how they can be strengthened as markets.

Provided us with deeper information about Ward 1 regarding homeowner/rental rates and the relative strength of the Ward 1 neighborhoods.

czbLLC, The Neighborhoods of Geneva, NY: A Report on Strategic Investments in Community Health and Strong Markets, geneva.ny.us, December 2008

Washington Park

Historic S. Main

College Heights

South Lake

Geneva Ward Map Ward 1

What is Ward 1?

“…On the shoulders of our predecessors”

We replicated a study conducted by R. Allen Hayes and Alexandra M. Kogl in Waterloo, Iowa in 2007.

They researched how neighborhood relations affect civic engagement

Positive attitudes towards the neighborhood are positively correlated with higher instances of formal activity.

Hays, Allen and Kogl, Alexandra. NeighborhoosAttachment, Social Capital Building, and Political Participation: A Case Study of Low- and Moderate- Income Residents of Waterloo, Iowa. Journal of Urban Affairs, Vol. 29, No. 2, 2007. Pages 181-205.

Research Instrument

Our Research Instrument is the survey created and conducted by R. Allen Hayes and Alexandra Kogl of the University of Iowa.

The survey is composed of both close and open ended questions that was administered in a 30 minute in person interview.

Survey Questions

Neighborhood Questions

Do you feel that you are really a part of your neighborhood or

is just a place to live?

What do you see as the main strengths of your

neighborhood? Weaknesses?

Have you exchanged an informal greeting or small talk in the

last week? Month?

Civic Engagement Questions

In the last 3 years, how many City Council Meetings did you

attend?

Do you think that local officials would respond to an ordinary

citizens concern?

If you were asked to give someone three pieces of advice as to how to be more effective in

influencing local government decisions and actions, what

would they be?

Hypotheses

We hypothesize that strong informal networks will yield higher civic involvement in Geneva

We hypothesize that College Heights and South Lake will have stronger neighborhood networks(formal and informal) than Washington Park and Historic South Main due to varying levels of transience and home ownership

Sample

We generated a list of 708 residents in Ward 1 from the Dickman Criss Cross Directory

We randomly sampled 50 individuals hoping to have a final sample of 25 Ward 1 residents

However, we were only able to glean 8 residents using this method, so we resorted to reliance on available subjects and snow ball sampling

techniques to achieve a final sample size of 19 residents

Research Problems

Time was lost in creating the Ward 1 list, leaving insufficient time to fully develop our sample.

Confusion about Ward boundaries

Our sample did not end up being random, thus we cannot generalize from our findings.

Some couples wanted to participate together, but one was chosen over the other.

Establishing Relationships Among Variables

There is a significant relationship between a subject’s attitude towards where they see themselves in the next 3-5 years and how many city council meetings they attended at the .05 level of significance among the entire sample.

7 out of 11 individuals who see themselves still living in their neighborhood and being happy attended at least 1 city council meeting in the past three years.

There is a significant relationship between whether a subject really feels they are a part of a neighborhood and the amount of city council meetings they attended at the .05 level of significance among the entire sample.

7 out of 13 individuals who feel they are really a part of their neighborhood attended at least one city council meeting.

Comparison of Ward 1 Neighborhoods

Neighborhood Attachment

57 % of respondents felt they were really a part of their neighborhood in Historic South Main and Washington park

82% of respondents felt they were really a part of their neighborhood in College Heights and South Lake

Attitude Toward City Government

83% of WP and HSM and 78% of CH and SL residents believe that it is somewhat likely or stronger that local government officials would respond to a local citizen’s concern.

Qualitative Findings

Historic South Main and Washington Park

Strengths

Safety(3)

Proximity to Services(2)

Beauty(3)

Neighborliness(3)

Weaknesses

Loud and Noisy(5)

Transience(3)

Crime/Drugs(2)

Property upkeep/garbage(2)

College Heights and South Lake

Strengths

College investments in properties(2)

Neighborliness(6)

Safe/quiet(4)

Location(4)

Weaknesses

Traffic(6)

Unwillingness of Colleges to address community concerns(2)

Not very connected with neighbors(2)

Property taxes are too high(2)

Conclusions

1) Established relationship between neighborhood attachment and civic involvement

2) Established a difference in neighborhood attachment between the northern section of the ward and the southern section

Therefore, we conclude that focus should be put on neighborhood initiatives in the northern section

MORE RESEARCH IS NEEDED

The EndQuestions? Comments?