Like community surveys and studies that came before it, the "Soul of the Community" study, being released today, can be as valuable to Duluth and our future as we decide to make it.
Considering its suggestions that our region, like other regions, can add jobs, boost the bottom line and benefit in other ways from being more welcoming, from expanding nightlife and from strengthening residents' emotional attachments to the place they call home, community leaders and residents alike can take notice.
That can start today when folks from the Duluth Superior Area Community Foundation and others lead an afternoon's worth of conversations about the study, its findings and what to do with them. The get-together at Teatro Zuccone will follow a presentation from 10 a.m. to noon.
The three-year survey of residents was conducted by the national polling outfit Gallup for the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation. Duluth-Superior was one of 26 communities, all formerly home to newspapers owned by the Knight brothers, that were surveyed.
High levels of community attachment equate to strong economic growth, the study found, among other things. Strengthening residents' attachment to their community can be achieved through better nightlife offerings, through wider inclusiveness and from the appreciation of a place's physical beauty.
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Duluth's natural features and strong sense of place already are strengths and can be built upon -- especially when it comes to ongoing efforts to prevent young people from moving away.
"This is where we're starting. This is not the end," Katherine Loflin, the study's lead consultant, told the News Tribune this week about today's release. "We want the true voice of the community to come out ... so we can get a true picture of place from residents. (Then you can) embrace who you think you are as a place."
Duluth Mayor Don Ness sees value in digging deeper into the study's findings and in using them to open a dialog. "It's a snapshot of perspective and perceptions," he said. "There's value. (This) can serve as a starting point for a broader discussion.
"For me it's less about the report and more about the discussions that'll start (today)," the mayor said.
"I think it will also help us explore openness and inclusiveness and ways we can be a more welcoming community," Duluth Superior Area Community Foundation President Holly C. Sampson said.
All are things worth exploring.
