Writer: James Swift
Published September 29, 2023
Dalton Daily Citizen
Residents and stakeholders have until Oct. 6 to respond to the Believe Greater Dalton 2023 Community Survey, which assesses local interest in a variety of important and far-reaching topics such as economic development, education and housing.
Allyson Coker, executive director of Believe Greater Dalton, said the organization’s first community survey in 2016 drew more than 2,000 responses.
“The original strategic plan was launched in 2018, so after the survey there came extensive research that was done by Market Street Services,” Coker said. “The research compared us to nine other communities throughout the Southeast, similar with a manufacturing base.”
That original plan, she continued, covered a five-year window.
“In 2021, we had pretty much accomplished all of the tactical recommendations,” Coker said. “What was intended, initially, to be a five-year strategic plan had really evolved into a movement and was something that everyone felt strongly just needed to continue in perpetuity and continue to evolve into a true public-private partnership.”
One of the biggest residual effects of the initial survey, she said, was the creation of a comprehensive study of the local housing market.
More than 100 people, she said, braved the November cold to see a presentation of the study findings in 2018.
“For the original strategic plan, it was recommended that we create a downtown master plan so we partnered with the Downtown Dalton Development Authority and the Carl Vinson Institute of Government (at the University of Georgia),” Coker said. “We launched the Dalton Innovation Accelerator … a co-working space in downtown Dalton in the Landmark Building.”
An update to the plan started in the fall of 2021 and was completed in February 2022.
“We had a large group of business and industry, philanthropy, the public sector and the private sector represented on that planning committee,” Coker said. “And we began raising the funds for this next five years that officially launched in March of this year … we had, probably, over 300 people that came out to an event that we had at The Mill.”
The updated plan has two new emphasis points — unity and revitalization.
“Really, how we can celebrate our diversity as a community and get more folks engaged in the community,” she said.
She noted that the 2021 community survey produced more than 4,500 responses.
“Folks were very pleased with everything that they’ve seen happen over the last five, seven, eight, nine, 10 years in downtown,” Coker continued. “We just really want to begin to see that move out into the corridors around downtown and our neighborhoods … so that’s how downtown really evolved into revitalization.”
Among other topics, she said the 2023 community survey touches upon beautification efforts.
“Blight is something that the city’s been very focused on and there’s some general quality of life measures,” she said. “And then community pride — one of the big things that came when we launched the original strategic plan back in 2018 was that Dalton had a very poor self-image and needed to think better of itself and celebrate all of the great things that we do have to be proud of as a community.”
The survey is written in both English and Spanish and can be accessed online at believegreaterdalton.com.
“There is an opportunity to win a $100 gift card randomly,” Coker added. “We will be giving some of those away for folks … when they complete the survey, they’ll have an opportunity to enter an email address.”
Coker said the organization is obviously interested in comments from the business community. But there is another demographic she would love to see get involved in the process.
“Our school systems have also sent it out,” she said. “Middle and high school students, we want to hear from the voice of our future.”
