August 11, 2006

Rural poll reveals ambivalence about newcomers to communities

Surveys were mailed in March to about 6,200 randomly selected households in Nebraska's 84 rural counties. Results are based on 2,482 responses.

Only 31% of respondents agreed that newcomers to their communities improve the quality of life. One-fourth disagreed, and 44% had no opinion. About 18% of respondents agreed new residents have been bad for their community. Forty-six percent of respondents disagreed with that statement, and 37% neither agreed nor disagreed.

The high percentages of no-opinion responses — which carry through on about a dozen separate questions about newcomers' roles and participation in rural Nebraska — seem to indicate many people are more ambivalent than welcoming or negative toward new residents.

"People just aren't paying enough attention to newcomers," said Cantrell, who works on the poll.

That's curious, considering many rural Nebraskans cite population loss as a key concern about their communities' survival.

"If out-migration is this huge issue ... you'd think we'd be really interested in recognizing the contributions that newcomers might be able to make and that we'd seek them out and make sure that they have that opportunity," Cantrell said. "We seem to be missing out on this group as a potential resource in the community."

"This isn't just the job of your minister or your school principal or your main-street business people. It's the job of everybody to make newcomers feel welcome," Cantrell said.

It's not that rural Nebraskans aren't aware of newcomers' presence. Sixty-four percent of respondents said they're aware of new residents arriving in their communities in the last five years.

"I don't know that many communities are deliberately reaching out to newcomers anymore," said Bruce Johnson, a UNL agricultural economist who also works on the poll.

Johnson cited several reasons for that. Many people who live in rural Nebraska commute to larger communities for jobs and other activities. "That reduces the social networking, engagement and integration."

If newcomers seem to act a little strange or standoffish, suspicions may be aroused -- particularly given the rise in crime in rural America sparked by the methamphetamine crisis, Johnson said.

Finally, people are likely to be more welcoming of new residents who seem "more conforming" to the community's existing culture, he added. Rural Nebraskans who have seen a large influx of immigrants from other countries may have more negative feelings about newcomers.

That probably explains some of the regional differences in people's attitudes found in the poll. Only 26% of residents of northeast Nebraska, where packing plants have attracted immigrants to work, agreed that new residents improve quality of life. Twenty-four percent of northeast Nebraskans said new people moving into their community has been bad for the community. Panhandle residents, on the other hand, are more likely than people in other regions to welcome newcomers, according to the poll. Thirty-nine percent of respondents from that region said new residents improve quality of life.

Whatever the challenges of welcoming new residents, communities that thrive and grow are likely to "see newcomers as new energy, new life, maintaining school enrollment and bringing in new leadership," Johnson said.

"In a world where everybody knows everybody, we really have to go out of our way to be inclusive," he added. Cantrell agreed. "Communities need to be seriously proactive and intentional about making that happen."

Other findings in the poll:

• Forty-nine percent of respondents said more people should be encouraged to relocate to their community. Sixteen percent disagreed, and 35% had no opinion.
• Fifty-six percent said they believe new residents are made to feel welcome in their communities. Fourteen percent disagreed, and 30% had no opinion. However, only 36% said their community does a lot to include new residents in the community.
• Newcomers are less likely than longer term residents to agree that new residents are made to feel welcome and that the community does a lot to include them. Forty-seven percent of persons living in their community for five years or less agreed that new residents are made to feel welcome, compared to 57% of persons living in their community for more than five years.
• Sixty-eight percent of respondents expect the population of retired persons to increase and 55% believe the number of immigrants will increase in the next decade. Forty-nine percent expect the total population of their community to increase during that span, but thirty-six percent expect the population of young families to drop.