VISION 2000 SURVEY OFFERS GOOD INSIGHT INTO CITY'S CONCERNS

One of the more effective gauges of attitudes in Cape Girardeau has been the annual survey conducted the past few years by Vision 2000, a community organization whose goals include the overall betterment of the city.

The latest survey, released earlier this month, identifies several specific items that contribute to the more nebulous "quality of life" in Cape Girardeau. Residents have strong opinions about industrial growth, traffic flow, street planning, health care, taxes and education.

Kudos were extended to the Show Me Center and Southeast Missouri State University as the city's institutions that best meet residents' needs. Fire protection and park maintenance were the highest-ranked city services. On the other hand, city government and the Regional Commerce and Growth Association got low marks as institutions, as did the city's building inspection, planning and street maintenance departments.

Others areas that need added attention, according to respondents, are industrial development and growth, deteriorated housing, traffic flow, solid waste services and recycling, a lack of sufficient general practice physicians, high health-care costs and effective cooperation between the city's two hospitals.

Many of these items already are being addressed through efforts by city government, citizen advisory committees and groups like the Cape Girardeau Chamber of Commerce. But some of the problem areas are yet to garner the attention they deserve.

Overall, though, 85 percent of the respondents thought the city's quality of life was either excellent or good. No survey is able to completely capture the opinions and attitudes of all the residents of any city. The Vision 2000 project is no exception. However, the survey does provide a good place for city officials, civic leaders and others in the community to focus their efforts at improving Cape Girardeau.