Social Capital
Do you live in a place where people help each other? How often do you greet strangers in passing? How much you trust people, the police or government? Those were some of the fundamental questions behind the Brainerd Lakes Area Community Foundation’s social capital survey that called about 500 area residents.
Social Capital is a method of measuring the value of connections that individuals have to other individuals and to their communities. This survey looks at a variety of indicators found, in national research, to be good measures of social capital. Research shows communities rich in social capital tend to have desirable attributes, including higher education achievements, better performances in government, faster economic growth and less crime.
BLACF sponsored the survey with the help of the Brainerd Dispatch, Brainerd Lakes Area Development Corp., Brainerd lakes Area Chamber and Central Lakes College. Murdoch Johnson of UpFront Consulting of St. Joseph conducted the survey. View the full report.
Some key findings:
- Young people are more trusting of people working in stores (80 percent) where they shop than they are of police (53 percent) or their neighbors (65 percent).
- Nearly five in 10 area residents said they trust local government almost always or most of the time.
- Area residents are above the national and comparison regions in working on community projects, attending a club or organizational meeting, serving as an officer or committee member and in volunteering.
- Nearly nine in 10 survey respondents are registered to vote. Nearly three in 10 residents said they were very interested in politics and national affairs.