by Zoë Pollock
On the 235th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence, Kaid Benfield mines public policy for insights into our collective happiness:
Community characteristics do matter to us. A three-year survey by Gallup of some 43,000 Americans living in 26 U.S. cities reported last year that people identify most strongly with their communities when they perceive them favorably with respect to social offerings, openness, and the aesthetic environment. The "Soul of the Community" survey, conducted for the Knight Foundation, found these factors to be more determinative of "resident attachment" to a place than others such as civic involvement, social capital, education, perception of the local economy, leadership, safety, emotional well-being, and basic services.
(Image: from the series, My Floating City, by Korean artist Kim Hyo-Suk)
The Dish 