A Final Report to the City of Schuyler, Nebraska, on Residents\u27 Perceptions of Housing and the Quality of Life in Schuyler, Nebraska

Schuyler, Nebraska, is on the cutting edge of a global economy in which people are migrating to places that offer jobs and a better quality of life. With the growth of employment opportunities at the Excel Packing Plant, Schuyler’s population is increasing and the demand for affordable housing is rising. To help assess resident perceptions of how the community is responding to these challenges, a team of researchers from the College of Architecture at the University of Nebraska- Lincoln conducted a survey of 85 households in Schuyler in February of 1996. The survey addresses issues of housing and the quality of life in Schuyler from the perspectives of longtime residents (15 or more years in the community) and newly-arrived residents (less than five years in the community). To summarize results of the 95-question survey, there are areas of agreement and disagreement between the long-time and newly-arrived residents of Schuyler. Both groups tend to believe that: (1) Schuyler provides its residents with a good quality of life. (2) Improvements are desired to meet the housing and other needs of its growing population. Long-time and newly-arrived residents tend to express some differences in perceptions, such as: (1) Newly-arrived residents tend to perceive more stress than long-time residents. (2) Long-time residents tend to feel that conditions in the community are getting worse and newly-arrived residents tend to feel that they are getting better. Based on these and other findings from the study, the research team recommends that the following actions be taken to meet the emerging community needs: (1) To continue to gather information about housing options and make it available to the public. (2) To address residential housing priorities identified by long-time and newly-arrived residents. (3) To establish a support group for newly-arrived residents and provide outreach education classes. (4) To continue to improve the local business climate

A Case Study of the Impact of Population Influx on a Small Community in Nebraska

This paper discusses the impact of population influx on small communities using the city of Schuyler, NE, as a case study. As a small city of 4,000 some residents, Schuyler experienced a proportionally significant population influx in the past decade largely due to an increase of immigrant population. Unlike large cities, Schuyler has fewer resources to cope with the impact of a drastic population increase on its physical conditions and environment. The population expansion also impacted its previously homogeneous social and cultural environment. Through surveying long-time and newly arrived residents and comparing responses of the two groups, the study revealed similarities and differences between the two groups in response to questions regarding a variety of issues related to the population influx. The survey investigated residents\u27 perceptions of changes in the physical and social! cultural environment, housing quality and development priorities, and concerns for future development of the city and its housing

Assessing the Energy-Efficiency Gap

Energy-efficient technologies offer considerable promise for reducing the financial costs and environmental damages associated with energy use, but these technologies appear not to be adopted by consumers and businesses to the degree that would apparently be justified, even on a purely financial basis. We present two complementary frameworks for understanding this so-called "energy paradox" or "energy-efficiency gap." First, we build on the previous literature by dividing potential explanations for the energy-efficiency gap into three categories: market failures, behavioral anomalies, and model and measurement errors. Second, we posit that it is useful to think in terms of the fundamental elements of cost-minimizing energy-efficiency decisions. This provides a decomposition that organizes thinking around four questions. First, are product offerings and pricing economically efficient? Second, are energy operating costs inefficiently priced and/or understood? Third, are product choices cost-minimizing in present value terms? Fourth, do other costs inhibit more energy-efficient decisions? We review empirical evidence on these questions, with an emphasis on recent advances, and offer suggestions for future research