A Profile of Glidden from 1994 to 2014
Gliddenwasoneof99Iowasmalltownsrandomlyselectedin1994foranIowaStateUniversitystudyof
lifeinsmalltowns.Thestudywasrepeatedin2004andagainin2014.150residentsofGliddenwere
randomlyselectedineachyeartoparticipateinthestudy.In2014,55residentsreturnedcompleted
surveys.Inthisreport,weshowthechangesthathaveoccurredinresidents’assessmentofthequalityof
life,theirdescriptionofthesocialenvironment,andtheirlevelofattachmenttoandinvolvementinthe
communityduringthepasttwodecades.
Life in Glidden
Gliddenwasincorporatedin1873andnamedafterJosephGliddenwhoinventedbarbedwire.Since1996,
GliddenhashadthehonorofbeingdesignatedaTreeCitycommunity.Thisawardisgrantedannuallyto
communitiesthatcareabouttheirnaturalenvironment.In2013,Gliddenwashometo1374residents,an
increaseof25percentfromitspopulationlevelin1990.Townattractionsincludealocallibrary,aquatic
center,wellnesscenter,andthreecityparks.Inadditiontobeingabletoenjoytheseuniquefeaturesof
smalltownlife,theprimaryreasonsprovidedbyrespondentsin2014forlivinginGliddenareitistheplace
theygrewup,theywanttobeclosetorelativesandin‐laws,anditisclosetowork.Theseareunchanged
fromthereasonsofferedbyresidentsin1994forchoosingtoliveinGlidden.
84%believethathalformoreresidentswouldhelpwithaspringclean‐up.
76%visitedthedowntowninthelastmonth.
55%reportthatmosteveryonecancontributetolocalgovernmentaffairs.
62%agreethatGliddenhasalotgoingforitcomparedtoothersmalltowns.
49%trustlocalelectedofficials.
8%ratethevarietyofdowntownretailasgoodorverygood.
Local Patronage Patterns
F
Figure 1
2014
2004
1994
56
* Church/Place of Worship
16
14
Recreation/Entertainment
13
* Shopping for Daily Needs
Shopping for Big Ticket
Items
0
2
Specialized Health Care
0
0
0
* Primary Health Care
0
70
85
24
22
34
4
3
10
16
20
40
60
80
100
oravarietyofreasonsmany
residentsofsmalltownsrelyon
neighboringcitiesandtownsfor
services.ResidentsofGliddenareno
exception.In2014,church/placeof
worshipistheonlylocalestablishment
usedbymorethan50percentof
residents.Moreover,smaller
percentagesofresidentsattendthe
localchurch,shopinlocalstoresfor
dailyneeds,anduselocalprimary
healthcareprovidersin2014thanin
1994.Changesinthepatronage
patternsforallotherservicesareless
thanthe13percentmarginoferrorfor
Glidden.
Percent Who Use Services Locally
*AnoteonInterpretation:ForGlidden,differencesinpercentagesbetween2014and1994oflessthan13shouldbe
consideredastatisticaldead‐heat.Thatis,theyfallwithinthemarginoferrorrange,whichoccurswheneversamplesareused
todrawconclusionsaboutalargergroup.Withamodestsamplesizeusedinthisstudy,thedifferencesmustberelativelylarge
beforewecanbeconfidentthattheyarereal.Throughoutthereport,differencesthatareequaltoorexceed13percentare
statisticallysignificantandareindicatedwithanasterisk(*).
Ratings of Government Services
Figure 2
2014
2004
1994
100
93
91
Fire Protection
96
93
94
Emergency Response Service
Garbage Collection
94
89
93
Public Schools
91
92
94
85
89
90
Condition of Parks
Water
73
Government Services Overall
70
68
*Condition of Streets
59
55
*Police Protection
42
38
0
20
40
82
86
78
71
58
60
80
G
liddenresidentswereaskedtorate
eightservicesnormallyprovidedby
localgovernmentsandtofurnishan
overallratingofgovernmentservices.
Figure2showsthepercentofresidentswho
ratedtheserviceasgoodorverygoodin
1994,2004,and2014.Allservicesexcept
policeprotectionreceivedpositiveratings
fromatleastsevenoftenresidentsin2014.
Inallthreeyears, ireprotection,emergency
responseservices,publicschools,and
garbagecollectionearnedthehighestscores.
Policeprotectionreceivedthelowestrating
in2014,butitissubstantiallyhigherthanits
ratingsin2004and1994.Theassessment
oftheconditionofthestreetsisalso
considerablyimprovedin2014over1994.
Allotherchangesarelessthanthe13per‐
centmarginoferrorforGlidden.
100
Percent Selecting "Good" or "Very Good"
Ratings of Local Services and Facilities
N
Figure 3
2014
2004
on‐governmentalcommunity
servicesinGliddenreceivedmuch
*Adequate Housing
lowerratingsasagroupcompared
totheresidents’assessmentoflocal
*Child Care Services
governmentservices.Evenso,fourofeight
servicesareratedgoodorverygoodin2014
bymorethanhalfoftherespondents.The
*Programs for Youth
adequacyofhousing,childcareservices,
qualityofjobs,andshoppingfacilities
*Community Services Overall
earnedgoodorverygoodscoresfrom
signi icantlylargerpercentagesofresidents
9
*Jobs
in2014comparedtotheirscoresinoneor
bothprevioussurveys.However,smaller
Senior Citizen Programs
percentagesofresidentsgavepositive
ratingstocommunityservicesoveralland
7
*Shopping Facilities
medicalservicesin2014thandidsoin
1994.Residentsevaluationofprogramsfor
youthin2014ishigherthanin2004,but
*Medical Services
lowerthanin1994.
0
1994
64
38
73
48
50
37
41
74
55
69
51
70
36
19
33
20
36
28
16
24
26
20
37
40
60
80
100
Percentage Selecting "Good" and "Very Good"
Glidden's Social Environment
Figure 4: Average Rating of Social Qualities
2014
2004
1994
5.96
Friendly
*Unfriendly
5.39
*Dangerous
5.95
5.43
5.80
*Run Down
5.87
5.53
5.70
Well-Kept
5.65
Supportive
*Indifferent
4.92
5.90
Safe
5.40
5.59
4.87
5.20
*Not Trusting
*Prejudiced
4.53
4.40
*Rejecting of New Ideas
4.11
4.40
1
2
3
4
5
Trusting
5.38
Tolerant
Open to
New Ideas
4.98
6
7
*Themarginoferroriscalculateddifferentlyforaverages,andwillsometimesvaryfromquestiontoquestionwithin
thesurveydependingonhowmanypeopleansweredeachquestion.Thus,changesofthesamesizemayexceedthe
margin of error for some items in Figure 4, but not for others. Only those items designated by asterisks (*) have
differenceslargeenoughtofalloutsideofthestatisticalmarginoferrorandcanthusbeconsideredtohavechanged
since1994.
E
I
nspiteofthefrequently
publicizedeconomicchallenges
experiencedbymanysmall
towns,theyareregularlypraisedfor
havingfavorablesocialclimates.
Severalquestionsinthesurveywere
designedtoevaluatethisaspectof
smalltownlife.Residentswere
presentedwithalistofsevensetsof
qualitiesandaskedtodescribe
wheretheirtown itsoneach.As
showninFigure4,residentsreport
thatamongallthequalitieslisted,
Gliddenisespeciallyfriendlyand
safe.Whilestillpositive,thetownis
lowerintoleranceandopennessto
newideas.ResidentsviewGlidden
assigni icantlyimprovedonall
sevensocialqualitiesespecially
since2004.
Social Ties
verybodyknowseverybodyelseisoftencitedasafeatureofsmalltowns.Thisfairlywelldescribes
lifeinGlidden.Inallthreesurveys,anaverageof56percentofresidentsreportedthattheyknow
halformoreofthepeopleintownbyname.Unchangedalsoarethepercentagesofresidentswho
indicatedthathalformoreoftheirclosefriendsliveintown(anaverageof50%acrossthethreeyears).
Approximatelyoneinsevenrespondentsreportedthathalformoreoftheirrelativesliveintown.Insum,
socialtiesinGliddenarerelativelyhighandhaveremainedthesameovertheprevious20years.
Onewaythatpeoplecometoknowandtrusteachotherandlearntoworktogetheristhroughsocializingat
gatheringplacesintown.Anyplacewherepeoplemeetandspendtimetogethercanbeasiteof
“relationshipbuilding.”Weaskedresidentstoindicatehowoftentheysocializewithotherresidentsin
eightpotentialgatheringplacesin2004and12placesin2014.InGlidden,thegasstation/convenience
storeisthemostcommonplacetomeet,withresidentssocializingthereabouttwiceamonth.Other
populargatheringplacesarechurcheswherepeoplesocializeslightlylessthanonceamonth.
A
Sense of Community in Glidden
nimportantaspectofthesmalltownsocialenvironmentishowwellpeopleworktogethertosolve
problemsandsupporteachother.Gliddenhasexperiencedasigni icantdeclinefrom1994to2014
intwoassessmentsofthisfactor.In1994,79percentagreedorstronglyagreedthatlocalclubsand
organizationsareinterestedinwhatisbestforallresidents.Fifty‐ ivepercentagreedwiththestatementin
2014.Halfoftheresidentsbelievedthatthetownisreceptivetonewresidentsinleadershippositionsin
1994.By2014,theproportionhaddroppedtoslightlymorethanoneinthree.However,thepercentages
ofresidentswhoagreedthatwhensomethingneedstogetdone,thewholecommunitygetsbehinditare
essentiallythesameacrossthethreeyears(anaverageof56%).Respondentsaremorefavorableaboutthe
amountofsupporttheypersonallyreceivefromthecommunity,butatlowerlevelsthanin1994.In2014,
60percentreportedthattheycould indsomeonetotalktoiftheyjustwantedtosocialize,downfrom89
percentin1994.Ontheotherhand,aboutthesamepercentageinbothyears(95%in2014comparedto
91%in1994)agreedthatiftheyhadanemergencyevenstrangersintownwouldhelpthem.
Community Attachment
Figure 5: Community Attachment
A
ccordingtotheresultsshowninFigure5,
Gliddenresidentsareattachedtotheir
community,butlessthanin1994.Nineof
"Feel at Home"
tenresidentsagreedorstronglyagreedthatthey
“feelathome”inGliddenandmorethannineof
tenwouldbe“sorryiftheyhadtoleavetown”in
1994.By2014,theproportionwhofeelathomeis *"Sorry to Leave"
withinthemarginoferrorofthe1994level,buta
signi icantlysmallerpercentofresidentswouldbe
sorryiftheyhadtoleavetown.
2014
2004
1994
78
84
90
60
84
94
0
20
40
60
80
100
Percent Selecting "Agree"
or "Strongly Agree"
Community Involvement
R
esidentsworkingtogethertoimprovethequalityoflifeisanimportantfeatureofcommunities.
Fifty‐onepercentofGliddenresidentsparticipatedinacommunityimprovementprojectin2014,
essentiallythesameas53percentin1994.Adeclineisevident,however,inthepercentwhode‐
scribethemselvesasactiveinthecommunity.In1994,47percentindicatedtheywereveryorsomewhat
activecomparedto33percentin2014.Likewisein2014,52percentreportedthattheybelongtoatleast
onelocalorganization(forexample,church,civic,orrecreationalorganizations)whilein1994,80percent
weremembers.ThemajorreasonsprovidedbyGliddenresidentsin2014fornotparticipatinginthecom‐
munityarethattheyhadnotbeenaskedtovolunteer(29%)andtheydonothavetimetogetinvolved
(25%).Thissetofquestionswasnotasked
in1994.In2004themajorreasonsfornon‐
Figure 6: Informal Participation
involvementwerelackofavailabletime
100
1994 2004 2014
(60%)andtheywerenotaskedtovolunteer
80
(31%).
53
60
47
57
51
43
33
40
20
0
*Percent "Somewhat"
or "Very" Active
A
Percent Who
Participated in a Project
In2014weaskedresidentstodescribelocal
leadershipinGliddenonsevendimensions:
trustworthiness,teambuilding,
concentratedvs.dispersed,openminded‐
ness,informed,effectiveness,andinclusive‐
ness.Gliddenleadersareperceived
positivelyonalldimensions,especiallytrust‐
worthiness,informed,andeffectiveness.
Thelowestscoreisforopen‐mindedness.
Summary
nimportantgoalofthisstudyistoprovideresidentsofsmalltownsasnapshotofthelocalquality
oflifeandresidents’attachmentandinvolvementoverthepasttwentyyears.Gliddenhas
experiencedsigni icantchangesinmanycategories.Populationhasincreasedby25percent.
Governmentservicescontinuetoearnstrongpositiveratingswithpoliceprotectionandtheconditionof
thestreetsreceivingapprovalfrommoreresidentsin2014thanin1994.Also,signi icantlymoreresidents
gavehousing,childcare,jobs,andshoppingpositiveratingsin2014,whilemedicalservicesandoverall
servicesdeclined.The2014scoreforyouthprogramsishigherthanthe2004level,butlowerthanitwas
in1994.Inallthreesurveys,townspeopledescribeGliddenassafeandfriendly.Socialtiesremainthe
same,butsenseofcommunityandparticipationincommunityhavedeclinedoverthelasttwentyyears.
ResidentsarestillveryattachedtoGlidden,butasmallerpercentwouldbesorrytoleavetownin2014.
Preparedby:TerryBesser,StephenSapp,GeorgeanneArtz,DeborahTootle,SelaHarcey,andCrystalPeoples.DepartmentofSociology,IowaStateUniversity.
[email protected]
TheresearchforthisreportwasfundedbytheNationalInstituteofFoodandAgriculture,UnitedStatesDepartmentofAgriculture,grant#2013‐05186.