01-02-1992 WS - Laserfiche WebLink

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members or have nearby relatives who would use a well-publicized Regional Senior Center. • The average senior citizen would be willing to drive 12 . 5 minutes to reach the Regional Senior Center. Most potential users were in the 6-15 minute drive range. Locating the Center outside of the city of residence of the user was not a major obstacle: only eleven percent of the potential users indicated they would be "much less likely" to use a Center outside of their community. A majority of seniors would be willing to see their property taxes raised up to $8. 38 per year to fund the construction and operation of the Center. While thirty-two percent were unwilling to pay any additional taxes, a large twenty-two percent expressed a willingness to see their property taxes raised by $20. 00 yearly. The issue of governance also proved to be • illusive to most seniors: twenty-six percent supported a special regional district; thirty-three percent, local control; and forty expressed no opinion. As in the case of residents as a whole, more discussion about potential governance structures would be required before any consensus among seniors could be crystallized. Newspapers, again, were the primary means by which senior citizens learned about City government and its activities . The "New Brighton Bulletin" and the "Fridley Focus" were mentioned by forty-four percent of the sample. General local newspapers were also cited by an additional sixteen percent.. Cable television was used by twelve percent, while city newsletters were relied upon by ten percent. Cable television reached thirty-nine percent of the senior households, and forty-seven percent of the subscribers reported watching their local government channel at least "occasionally. " The optimal means of reaching most seniors was in the same way- to reach the population as a whole, through the local newspapers. Coned -s-eons There was strong and widespread support for the construction of a Regional Senior Center. In fact, residents as a whole were somewhat more supportive of the concept than seniors; many of the non-seniors expressed their desire "to do something" for their elders. Backing up this commitment was the willingness by majorities to see their property taxes raised by moderate amounts to insure the construction and operation of the facility. loth seniors and non--sen itra viewed the facility in the same way. }+Both groups regarded congregate dining opportunities and a kitch.en and ik- i1.che�neytte as l) key components of any Center Both groups also expressed majority support for each of the currently planned facilities for inclusion. And, moderate drive times and a site outside of their own communities were not major obstacles to most respondents. 5