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This artist's rendering shows residential neighborhoods in The Point's planned development in the Silicon Slopes area of Utah County.

Courtesy The Point

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The Utah County Administration Building stands Friday, Dec. 27, 2019, in Provo.

Isaac Hale, Daily Herald file photo

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Cars wait at a traffic signal at the intersection of 800 South and State Street in Orem on Thursday, Oct. 30, 2014.

Daily Herald file photo

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In this undated photo, Vineyard residents participate in an Earth Day cleanup of the trail along Utah Lake.

Courtesy photo

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Water cascades down Bridal Veil Falls in Provo Canyon on Tuesday, Dec. 1, 2020.

Isaac Hale, Daily Herald file photo

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Ski team members head down the mountain on Thursday, Dec. 6, 2018, at Sundance Mountain Resort.

Evan Cobb, Daily Herald file photo

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Dillard's Store Manager Robert Glodowski gives tour through the new Dillard's anchor store at Orem's University Place on March 9, 2022.

Craig Conover, Daily Herald

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This 2015 promotional photo shows cast members from the musical "Mary Poppins" at SCERA Shell Outdoor Amphitheater.

Courtesy Mark A. Philbrick

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A BYU student holds pride flags during the Strike Out Queerphobia protest held just off BYU's campus in Provo on Tuesday, Oct. 11, 2022.

Harrison Epstein, Daily Herald

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What are the best reasons to live in Utah County and what do you think are the biggest concerns for the county?

That is what Michael Call of Civicus Consultants asked residents, particularly millennials, in preparing the most recent Community Needs Assessment for the United Way of Utah County.

Since 2015, Call’s group has been helping the United Way determine the answers to these questions through surveys and data collection. Call is a former resident of the county.

“Respondents were probed for up to five answers. This year, respondents were more eager to respond, with a greater percentage than ever before giving five answers,” Call said.

There was no surprise the mountains or outdoor living was the most commonly cited response. Restaurants, shopping, arts/culture, schools/education/university, jobs/economy, family values/family-friendly people/friends/family (in general) were some of the other reasons people said they moved here or grew up and stayed here.

Singling out millennials, those age 26-41, the assessment showed they followed very similar patterns as the entire surveyed population. Mountains and outdoors ranked the highest (45.5%), followed by quality of life (38.1%), family values or friendliness (31.4%), recreation (26.3%) and jobs or the economy (26.1%).

“When comparing the top responses to prior year’s data, it’s clear that mountains and outdoor living opportunities is a much more common response today,” Call said.

When asked about the most pressing issues in Utah County, growth in population was far and away the most common response, far outpacing the prior year’s numbers and all other concerns in 2021, according to the assessment.

More than 7 out of 10, or 71%, of respondents in the community survey and 65.4% in the millennial survey cited growth in general as a “most pressing issue” in the county. That was followed by several issues related to growth: housing costs (55.5% overall, and 70.2% of millennials), traffic or congestion (43.9% and 38.8%), and air quality or air pollution (26.1% and 15.2%).

Depression took a distant fifth place in the community survey, at 13.2%; however, 15.9% of millennials mentioned it.

No. 6 on the list was LGBTQ issues, which Call said was surprising as it was the first time since the beginning of the group’s assessments that the topic has appeared in the rankings, let alone making the top 10.

The final four included mental health, drug abuse, roads/road conditions and jobs.

Other issues presented during surveys were suicide, crime, education, COVID-19-related health care, anxiety, domestic violence, racial equity and justice.

“Comparing the 2021 responses to those of prior year’s reveals some interesting shifts in attitudes,” Call said. “Five issues with greater than 0.5% appeared for the first time: LGBTQ (11.9%), race or racial justice issues (4.2%), domestic violence (4.1%), anxiety (3.7%) and COVID-19 issues (1.9%).”

“Of course, some of these issues can be grouped together — particularly mental and behavioral health issues — to understand better how the community is viewing larger concerns,” he added.

This year’s telephone survey of 1,295 adults was the most accurate yet, according to Call, with a margin of error of 2.8%.

“The sample was stratified based on population distribution throughout Utah County, and more items were added to better understand the changing perspectives, lives and expectations of Utah County residents following the worldwide COVID-19 pandemic,” Call said.

“All secondary data presented are from credible sources such as the U.S. Census Bureau, the Utah State Office of Education and the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. The latest 2020 decennial census figures are included in this assessment, along with the highly valued American Community Survey,” he added.

Civicus Consultants’ intention was to once again provide the United Way of Utah Count data for policymakers, grant-making entities, elected officials, grant writers, human service agencies, faith-based organizations and others.

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