Clay County Promise Zone Community Forum

What do you see as the strengths of this community?

Tight knit family groups

       It's extremely homey

       Mostly family

       A tight knit group of mostly family

Kind people

       Nice people

       Helpful people

       Friendly atmosphere (2)

            Friendly (2)

            Everyone is friendly

       Good people

       Everyone is nice and helps everyone out

Talents of the people

       Entrepreneurs

       Creativity

       Talent

       Arts and music

       Crafts, arts and music

Strong schools

       Good education

       The education

       We have a strong school system

       We have a great school system

Good infrastructure

       Many paved roads

       Second most paved roads in Kentucky

       Strong infrastructure

A small community

       Small enough to know most everyone

       Small town (4)

       Close knit

       You know most people in the town

       Everyone knows everybody

       Everyone knows everyone

       Your neighbor is not a stranger

Safe

       Not a lot of crime

       Safe from terrorism

       Geographically this is a protected community

       Little crime, the mountains protect us

Nature

       Lots of green space

       Lots of wildlife

       Flora and fauna

       Mountains (2)

       Beautiful forests

       Woods

       Natural resources (2)

       The wilderness

       Natural surroundings

       Natural environment and resources

       Great scenery with lots of mountains and forests

Outdoor recreation

       Our parks

            Parks

       Our trail system

Environmental clubs

Small businesses

 

What are some of the challenges facing this community?

Too many people using drugs and alcohol

Too many pharmacies for the number of people in the community contributing to prescription drug abuse

     Too many pharmacies (2)

     We have way too many pharmacies and liquor stores

       Drug addiction (2)

       A drug problem

       Rampant drug and alcohol use

       Drugs (5)

       Drugs and alcohol (2)

       Drinking (2)

       Too many drug addicts and dealers

       Alcoholics

Poverty (7)

       Too many people "on the draw"

       A community of dependency

       Too many lie to get food stamps

       Not much money

       Lots of poverty

       Too many people who draw check who don't need to draw them

       Too much use of food stamps

       Abuse of food stamps

No jobs (2)

       Lack of jobs

       Unemployment (2)

       Not many jobs

       Not having enough jobs in Clay

This is a rural community so there are limited choices

       Limited consumer choices

            Limited shopping

            No shopping

            No malls

            Small number of grocery stores with limited choices

       Small town - no reason to stay

       Nothing for people to do

            No movie theaters or recreational choices

            Nothing to do

            No activities

Not enough restaurants (2)

       No sit down restaurants

Property crime

       Crime

Lack of education

       Drop outs

Low drive for success

       Lack of ambition

       Hard to focus on and fix problems

       Not many people want to change the community

       No one cares about anything

Close minded

No privacy

Political corruption (2)

       Politics

No diversity

Everyone leaves

Difficult to fix problems

 

What are your dreams for the future of this community? What would make this community a better place to live and work?

More choices for consumers

       More places to shop

I would get places like movies and restaurants. When we go shop and eat in London, we are giving our money to London and that is just making the town get better opportunities than we are getting here

       Coffee shop/s (2)

       More restaurants

            Restaurants (4)

       More food choices

       Wal-Mart Super center (2)

       We need less pharmacies and more services

       We need departments stores

       Book stores

       Grocery stores

More places for youth and families to hang-out or find entertainment

       More activities for kids to keep busy with

       Bring more entertainment to the community for our youth

Put some more activities in here so all the young kids won't be drinking and getting high because they have activities to do

Fun center

       Movie theater

            Theater

       Bowling alley

       Entertainment center

       Skating rink

       More stuff to do

More jobs!

       Jobs in the medical field

       Business or corporate jobs

       More businesses (like mom and pop stores)

       Better paying jobs (2)

       Better jobs

       More good jobs

       Need more possible locations for new businesses to be established

       More business corporations

       Veterinarian

       More professionals want to come back to Clay

            People who receive higher education returning to their home area

            Get professionals back

       More jobs in Clay County

       We need more opportunities in general

       I would put better medical field jobs in this town

       More physical space for businesses to start here

       More jobs in coal and industry would be great to have

Bigger churches

       Stronger churches

Stricter law enforcement

To have better laws so that thieves and drug heads and alcoholics don't get out of jail so easy

Put more money into the schools

       Invest more in the local schools

Museum (2)

       More emphasis on our past

More emphasis on the arts

       More arts and culture

       Emphasis on arts

Opportunities to be able to finish post-high school studies in the community

       Being able to finish school here

       Improve local schools academically

       Driven kids who are college bound

       Emphasis on education instead of sports, music, extra-curricular activities

       Help for non-college bound students

       Drive kids to college who don't have transportation

       Keep kids from dropping out of school

       Loans for youth to attend professional schools

       Forgive student loans to returning professionals

Better public library

       More library services

       Larger holdings and facilities

To get rid of all the liquor stores and reduce the number of pharmacies

Coming back home

       Family connections

To clean up the community

Reform the local government

       Do away with political corruption

Be more influential

To have a better music system

 

Imagine you could influence how $5,000 would be spent in this community. How would you want this money invested to improve the quality of life here?

Clean and stock rivers and lakes to increase tourism

       Clean local waters

       Increase places to go fishing

       Increase wildlife

Support local clubs and their programs in order to build a closer sense of community and to bring people together

       Clubs that create a closer community

Awards for younger children who perform well to encourage them to keep doing well and others to do better

Soup kitchen (3)

I would open up a store that would give back to the community by donating a percentage of the proceeds to Clay County

More educational opportunities and access to these through public transportation

       More tutoring

       More academic enrichment

       More after-school programs (2)

       Career center

       More education opportunities      

Improve parks to attract families

       More park equipment

       Bathrooms

       Concession stand

Invest in a recreational center OR renovate the existing youth center

       Work out equipment

       A fitness club where you can exercise with your friends

       Places to play basketball

       Sportsplex (3)

            Fitness Center/Club (2)

            Sportsplex with tennis courts, basketball gym, track, volleyball court

       Country club

       Some sort of recreation center

       Roller rink

       New softball field

       Bigger gyms so maybe we can reduce the obesity in Clay County

Bring in more things for the youth. People want their kids to be happy and they don't see that happening here

A facility for the arts and music

Expand and improve the library

More public transportation      

I would spend it on cleaning up the community

Youth/adult operated businesses

       Coffee shop

       Frozen yogurt (2)

More factories and industries

       Create more jobs by improving the infrastructure

       More public spaces for people to gather

Higher paychecks for the people who work. People who don't work get more money than those who do

Higher quality restaurants

Movie theater

       Drive in

            Drive in movie theater (2)

            Drive in theater

Flea Market

Mall

Higher quality restaurants

More jobs with more income

 

Identify your age range

54        18 and under

            19-30

            31-45

            46-59

            60-75

            Over 75

Are you:

17        Male

28        Female

8          Did not answer

What area of Clay County do you live nearest?

18        Manchester

            Oneida

            Redbird

5          Fogertown

3          Burning Springs

            Benge

3          Blue Hole

1          Botto

            Hima