Survey finds gains, needs in Cape Girardeau

Vision 2020, the successor to Cape Girardeau's Vision 2000 advisory group, recently completed a major step in determining what the city's future should be.

For the third time, the group has surveyed city residents about what they think of their community, what changes they'd like to see and what projects they'd like to have completed. Vision 2000 did similar surveys in 1987 and 1994.

This year's results were outstanding and encouraging, especially in a time of citywide, and nationwide, financial stress.

Surveys were mailed to 2,600 randomly selected Cape Girardeau residents, and 13 percent filled them out and returned them. The return rate was disappointingly low, but certainly was enough to be representative.

The great news: Three-quarters of the responding residents say their quality of life in Cape Girardeau is good or excellent, a coup by any standard.

And 86 percent say the city is a good place to raise a family. That's not surprising, considering our excellent education system, recreation, medical care, cultural opportunities and retail selection.

And speaking of schools, the survey took a 33 percentage-point jump in the number of those confident in school leadership. Certainly recent passage of a tax increase for education demonstrates that confidence.

Among the other top performers: The fire department (with a whopping 86 percent approval rate), health care and -- forgive us the self-congratulation -- 72 percent approval of the news media.

Surveyors pointed out that even on the areas of relatively low approval -- city and county government and industrial growth -- many people answered "no opinion," which dragged the numbers down.

But perhaps the most fascinating aspect of the survey was what residents believe are the top four concerns of the city and comparing that list to past surveys.

In 1987, the top concerns were flood control, trash disposal, street connections and the widening of Broadway and Independence. About $40 million later, the Cape La Croix Creek-Walker Branch flood control project protects a large portion of the city from floodwaters. One seldom hears a complaint about trash pickup.

The street connections and Broadway and Independence issues made the 1994 survey too, but not the 2002 survey. It appears city residents are happy with the street improvements made over the last eight years and have abandoned the idea of a wider Broadway and Independence.

But now we turn to the four items from this year's survey: The riverfront and downtown, flood and stormwater, airport services and use of the Transportation Trust Fund, which is a half-cent sales tax for road improvements.

As far as we've come as a city, there's still much to be done. And now that city residents have announced their opinions, they should be willing to follow through with specific ideas and help for Vision 2020.