Synopsis
Volume 2 contains data only. Utah County, situated just south of Salt Lake County in central Utah, is experiencing tremendous growth. Since 2000, the population has grown to nearly 550,000 residents—an increase of 47 percent: the fastest of any county in Utah. Indeed, of the total population increase in the state of Utah the past decade, nearly one-third is attributable to Utah County. With rapid population growth comes economic development and opportunities for jobs, education, entrepreneurship, and cultural and social vitality. But rapid growth can also bring increased demands on infrastructure, education, health care, and human services. In the fall of 2014, Civicus Consulting Group, from Richmond, Missouri, was contracted to conduct a follow-up assessment of Utah County. The prior community assessment, conducted in the fall of 2010 and early spring of 2011, had been a guiding document and resource for policy makers, business leaders, human service providers, educators, health care providers, and others. The intent of conducting an updated assessment was to obtain current data, learn public perceptions, consider stakeholder expertise, and develop recommendations. In order to provide adequate context for this study, the assessment analyzes Utah County in a number of ways. First, it compares Utah County of today with the Utah County of the recent past; this approach allows trends to be identified. Second, it compares Utah County to other geopolitical units, including Salt Lake County, Davis County, Summit County, Wasatch County, and Juab County. With some data, comparisons are also made to the State of Utah and to national figures as well. Third, it considers the perceptions and views of experts, stakeholders, and the public at large. This assessment is divided into five sections: The Place, The People, The Future, The Perceptions, and an appendix, published as a separate volume. The largest section in Volume 1—The People—is further divided into an Overview, followed by Education, Income, and Health. The companion Appendix with hundreds of data tables is presented as Volume II of this assessment. After culling through this data, a number of observations can be made, among them • Utah County has tremendous assets. Parks, recreation, cultural activities, public and private education, and access to outdoor activities abound. Despite the rapid population growth, crime has remained remarkably low. • Improvements in education. Following the 2011 assessment, the community embarked on efforts to improve 3rd grade reading scores and other outcomes of good education. Recent measures indicate improvements have been made, although more has yet to be accomplished. • Utah County continues to experiencing growing pains. • Affordable housing is an issue. The prior assessment identified affordable housing as a need in the Utah County area. That need has only increased; the awareness of this need among the general public indicates that more and more individuals are being affected by the high costs of housing. • Low-income and minority population gaps. Despite improvements in some areas, the influx of non-English speakers continues to cause gaps in income and education. • Utah County lacks a comprehensive, collaborative, long-term human service plan. Although some individual agencies and some groups of similar-mission nonprofits work together to collaborate in the delivery of services and in strategic planning (such as the Housing Solutions Workgroup and the Mountainland Continuum of Care), there is no long-term human service planning group or mechanism addressing 10- to 20-year efforts. United Way of Utah County and the agencies that joined forces to produce this assessment are pleased to present this report to public officials, community leaders, service providers, public policy advocates, and others. We welcome your feedback and trust you will find this document of tremendous value as you join with us to improve Utah County.
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