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6—9 <br />Orange County Comprehensive Parks and Recreation Master Plan <br /> CHAPTER 6 - Community Needs Assessment and Public Input 6 <br />The place of residence question, answered by 767 <br />persons, showed the mix of survey respondents <br />geographically: <br /> <br /> Unincorporated Part of the County 31% <br /> Hillsborough 29% <br /> Chapel Hill 27% <br /> Carrboro 7% <br /> Mebane 6% <br /> <br />In terms of income level, twenty-two percent (22%) <br />of those responding had an annual household <br />income of $60,000 or less, 43% were in the $60,000 <br />– $119,999 range, and 36% reported income of over <br />$120,000 per year. At the same time, six percent <br />(6%) had an annual income of under $30,000, and <br />3% reported annual income of over $300,000. <br /> <br /> Examine the facilities outside the county that <br />respondents visited – what do they have that our <br />facilities do not? <br /> Look at a trail system that links various areas <br />within the county. <br /> The vast majority recognize that parks and <br />recreation programs enhance physical and <br />mental health of county residents. Make this a <br />prominent part of marketing efforts. <br /> Likewise, the vast majority recognize the impact <br />on the county’s economic health from parks and <br />recreation – conduct an economic impact study <br />to see what parks and recreation “gives back” to <br />the community from a fiscal perspective. <br /> Use the awareness of the above two benefits in <br />branding the department. <br /> Almost one-third of respondents did not know <br />about services provided, and most did not partici- <br />pate in programs. Look at the effectiveness of <br />current marketing and promotional strategies. <br /> There is an opportunity to better inform county <br />residents about what the County does, its <br />accomplishments, and the recreation needs for <br />the county. <br /> Determine additional marketing and promotional <br />strategies for programs, parks and facilities and <br />their benefits. <br /> The greatest interest for both programs and <br />facilities was for walking/hiking/biking trails. <br />Evaluate current trail systems and determine <br />possibility of adding new trails. <br /> Seek grant funds from state and federal levels, as <br />well as corporate donations, to help finance <br />future facilities. <br /> In developing and renovating parks consider <br />landscapes that provide large areas of open <br />space for low-impact recreational activities. <br />Frequently-requested characteristics included <br />shade, picnic tables and places to walk. <br />C. Consultant Recommendations – Statistical <br /> Random-Sample Survey <br />As a part of their review of the 520 statistical <br />random-sample surveys, the UNC-Greensboro <br />consultants who conducted this survey drew a <br />number of recommendations from these findings, <br />summarized here and shown in full at the conclusion <br />of Appendix 6-3. <br />It is important to note that while these findings may <br />have validity across all of the different survey tech- <br />niques, they were written specifically to address the <br />results of the SRS survey: <br />73