This page provides the results of an online, non-scientific community poll of residents of South Deschutes County, also known as Newberry Country, conducted by the consultant on behalf of Newberry Regional Partnership (NRP). It is part of a larger effort to develop a Strategic Action Plan for the region. The poll had its origins in community input originally gathered from area residents through a variety of methods between June 2023 and June 2024.
NRP’s Summary of Community Input (July 2024) provided a detailed analysis of that input, highlighting the community’s most frequently mentioned issues and concerns. Based on the community’s input, the consultant gleaned and further refined 92 specific ideas suggested by the public for consideration as potential strategies for NRP’s strategic plan.
The next step was to conduct a community poll as a final check with the public to see which of these 92 ideas garnered the most support. Due to the sheer volume of ideas not all 92 could be tested. (The 64 ideas tested in the poll largely reflect top scoring issues and concerns from the Summary of Community Input.) In order to secure the participation of as many respondents as possible, ideas were tested by their titles only — not by more detailed strategy descriptions simultaneously currently under development.
Running for two and a half weeks, some 350 residents participated in the poll. (A very small number of additional responses were expected to come in following preparation of this report, but should make no statistically significant difference in its findings.) Participation in the poll closely reflected the distinct populated areas in the region, with the city of La Pine and La Pine area slightly over-represented (55% of respondents compared to approximately 50% of the region’s population) and the Sunriver Owners Association and wider Sunriver Area slightly under-represented (23% of respondents compared to approximately 25% of the region’s population).
This report presents the final results (September 2024) For each focus area, respondents identified their top three or four ideas. (Two areas had a larger number of strategies for testing, so respondents were asked to choose an additional top idea.) Poll results offer a comparative ranking all ideas tested within a given focus area. Overall, there were 20 top-scoring ideas across all six areas.
It should be noted that there are significant differences in the priorities of populated areas of the region that are not reflected in overall poll results. A further analysis of those differences, including comparative priorities of different areas, will be presented to NRP. Based on polling results and this further analysis, NPR’s Advisory Committee, assisted by its host organization Central Oregon Intergovernmental Council, will develop a final slate of draft strategies and bring them before a summit meeting of key stakeholders and potential plan implementation partners for their consideration and refinement in the early fall.
Regardless of whether a given strategy idea ends up in the final strategic action plan, all ideas presented in this document will be archived for future reference and consideration.
Polling conducted by Steve Maher, Principal, Steve Maher New Media
Context by Steven Ames, Principal, Steven Ames Planning