Summary of Valued Conditions
Valued Conditions Expressed by King County Residents
• Everyone feels included; no one is isolated. Neighbors know each other’s names and get together often. A lot of talk between neighbors.
• People show respect for and interest in others who are of different ages, educational, social and ethnic backgrounds.
• Neighbors depend on each other: borrowing and lending, watching out for each other’s children, homes, gardens, and pets. There is trust.
• People organize within the community/neighborhood: block watches, neighborhood directories and associations.
• People invest in the community: keeping it clean, organizing mentoring and other youth development activities, supporting public parks, libraries, community centers.
• People are informed and engaged in their community: volunteering, staying aware and wellinformed of community issues, planning and attending community events.
• People are active participants in community events and the political process. They believe that what they do can make a difference in community life.
• People honor and show interest in the cultural/religious heritage of others.
• People share their common heritage and interests: language, religious observance or cultural practice. They have opportunities to gather with people who are like them.
• People of different generations frequently interact and do things together.
• Immigrants receive assistance to improve their knowledge of English. Immigrants are empowered in other ways—training, involvement in community organizations, etc.
• There is diversity in neighborhoods: elderly and single people living among families, single family dwellings among multi-family dwellings; shops among residences, low cost housing among higher cost housing.
The valued conditions came from citizen opinion expressed as values and concerns in the telephone survey, focus groups, and in the civic and public forums. The valued conditions are expressed as “ideal” conditions—based on the vision of what residents want for themselves, their families and communities.
