Future Direction – Community Focus – Broad Sentiment

Respondents were asked a question about the future community focus in Sugar Land. This question is a broad sentiment questions, and is exploring reaction to broad ideas and directions. This topics was identified as a ‘future-splitting’ theme in the Think Tank.

The question was: ‘Thinking about the future community focus for Sugar Land over the next 10 years, we are interested to know if you think the community should lean more toward ‘Stay the course‘ (focusing on the traditional strengths and current residents, as a family-oriented suburban community), or lean more toward ‘Adapt and evolve‘ (including embracing emerging demographic and social changes, building a more diverse intergeneration community, and fostering stronger connected neighborhoods).’
Please select your answer on the following continuum.
SCALE: 1 = Stay the Course; 10 = Adapt and Evolve

Key things to note:

This question is exploring reaction to broad statements about future direction on the topic of community focus.
There is a strong response to the notion of ‘Stay the Course’(40.5%) which reflects the high value and appreciation that people have for the past and current value proposition that Sugar Lands presents to residents. This also reflects the current high satisfaction that residents report in community surveys.
However, there is a significant portion of responses that indicate a strong preference to the ‘Adapt and Evolve’ (17.5%). Over 37% of total responses are 6 or higher on the scale, suggesting this is an important topic to consider further.
There is some different in cohorts responses, with the ‘Adapt and Evolve’ sentiment being stronger for younger people, people who live outside Sugar Land, City employees, and residents in district 2. Resident in District 1, 3 and 4 are more attracted to the status quo of ‘Stay the Course’.