Making communities safer continues to be an important concern for many Mid-Hudson Valley residents. It now ranks eighth on the list of residents’ priorities up from tenth five years ago. On average, residents rate the priority of making their community safer with a score of 7.5 out of 10. This compares with the average rating of 7.2 this issue received in 2002.
At the county level, with the exception of Columbia and Ulster Counties, making their community safer is among residents’ top ten priorities in each county. It receives the highest average score, 7.7, from residents in Dutchess and Orange Counties.
Five years ago, among the six counties surveyed, residents of Orange County were most concerned about crime. As a priority, making communities safer ranked fifth among these residents. This issue now ranks seventh among Orange County residents.
Dutchess County residents are more concerned about safety in their community than they were five years ago. In 2002, the issue received an average score from residents of 7.3. Today, safety receives an average rating of 7.7 among residents in the county. The increase of four-tenths of a point since 2002 reflects the greatest shift in average score on this issue among the six counties studied five years ago.
The priority to make communities safer continues to receive its highest average rating from African American residents. The average score among this group on this issue has increased from 7.8 in 2002 to 8.5 today. In comparison, public safety as a priority now receives an average rating of 8.0 from Latino residents and just 7.4 from white residents.
Safety issues are also a greater concern for residents with a family income of less than $15,000 a year than for residents with higher income. Making their community safer now ranks third on the list of priorities for these residents a considerable change from its rank of twelve in 2002. It now receives an average score of 8.0 among this income group compared with an average rating of 7.3 five years ago. This is also an increasing concern among households with income less than $30,000 per year. In 2002, community safety ranked ninth, now it is the fifth ranked priority for these residents.
Public safety is more important to residents with children especially children under the age of five.
