What We Love About Shutesbury (and What We Don’t) 😍 💕 💓 💘 💞 💗

Brook in Winter, Shutesbury (2022)

Americans are embracing the rural lifestyle. According to a CBS News poll of 1,006 randomly chosen U.S. adults in July 2021, 52% of those living in small towns and rural communities would stay put if offered the choice to live anywhere they pleased. Of respondents living in the suburbs, almost 50% said they would prefer to live in the country. Overall, 45% of respondents chose country living compared to 28% who choose the suburbs or the 25% who preferred city life.

The pandemic has influenced Americans’ lifestyle choices, resulting in more people moving to rural areas. A poll cited in a January 2022 article on the Association of Equipment Manufacturers website revealed the following motivations for such a move:

➤More space/land;

➤Low population density;

➤Lower property prices;

➤A safe environment/clean air and water;

➤Less traffic;

➤Reduced cost of living.

After reading these articles, I wondered how the residents of Shutesbury would respond to the question, “Why do you love living in Shutesbury?” 

Luckily, I was able to find a handful of surveys on Shutesbury.org asking a host of questions regarding the way residents feel about Shutesbury. Although all the surveys were conducted prior to the Covid-19 pandemic, the attitudes align closely to the national, mid-pandemic surveys mentioned above.

2000:  Shutesbury Survey Highlights The Town Plan Committee and

Responses to Survey Questions. 26% response rate (1275 surveys mailed, 331 returned)

2004:  Shutesbury Master Plan

2006:  Shutesbury 2006 Open Space and Recreation Plan Survey Results 33% response rate (549 surveys distributed, 185 responses)

2016:  First Community Survey Responses for Update to Master Plan(Shutesbury Community Vision Report). 33% response rate (187 responses)

2022:  Open Space and Recreation Plan Survey Draft Plan Section 7: Analysis of Needs (168 responses)

Though a minority of residents filled out each survey, I believe the number of surveys conducted over 21 years presents a fair representation of what attracted residents to Shutesbury in the first place, and what keeps them here.

Peace and Quiet/Rural Character

This sentiment is the most commonly cited reason residents value Shutesbury. In 2000, 85% of respondents cited peace and quiet as the most important reason they live here. When asked about the Town’s rural character, 80% again cited quiet as being very important.

In 2006, A majority of respondents again noted the importance of peace and quiet in their decision to reside in Shutesbury, with the Town’s rural/small-town character running a close second. When asked how important it was to protect the peace and quiet of the Town, respondents indicated it was very important.

Ten years later, in 2016, residents were again asked about what they valued most about living in Shutesbury during a survey meant to inform the updating of the Shutesbury Master Plan. When I searched the free-form responses from that open-ended survey, the word quiet was mentioned 41 times, peace or peaceful 20 times, and rural 70 times (an average of 127 responses were recorded for each of six questions).

Clean Air and Water

Clean air and drinking water in Shutesbury are highly valued. The 2000 survey found 92%  and 90% of respondents stated, respectively, that clean water and clean air are both very important.

The 2006 Open Space survey also received responses denoting air and water quality as very important or important, while considering the protection of those resources very important.

In 2016, the superior quality of the air and water was mentioned in free-form responses 18 and 27 times, respectively.

The 2022 Open Space and Recreation Survey shows that the quality of the Town’s drinking water and air quality is highly valued by Shutesbury residents, with well over 90% of 168 respondents agreeing that protection of these resources is very important. 

Other Highly-Valued Amenities in Shutesbury

The 2022 Open Space survey highlighted how much residents appreciate the natural world. Over 80% of respondents found the protection of lakes, streams, ponds, wetlands, wildlife habitats, and migration corridors to be very important. Large blocks of forested land were also considered a vital resource.

These priorities have changed little since the 2000 survey, where nearly 84% of respondents indicated the importance of protecting lakes and streams, as well as forests (79%) and wildlife habitat (78%).

I also found a high number of responses in the free-form survey comments in the 2016 survey that mentioned community–a total of 137 mentions from a survey that returned 187 responses. Despite some commentary about the divisions that exist in town, it is obvious that residents consider a strong sense of community to be integral to their life in Shutesbury.

Shutesbury Residents Agree: They Don’t Love Taxes

To find out how Shutesbury residents feel about property taxes in town, I examined the responses from the original Master Plan Survey in 2000 and the free-form comments from the 2016 Community Survey for the Master Plan update, i.e., the Shutesbury Community Vision Report. These two surveys were the only ones that contained specific questions regarding taxes or comments related to taxation.

The results of the 2000 survey have  a section entitled, Are you willing to have taxes increase to pay for these capital improvements? Some of the 27 possibilities listed included a 24-hour police department, a new/expanded library, a full-time fire department, and high-speed internet access. None of the survey respondents indicated a willingness to raise taxes for any of the 27 items listed in the survey question.

The free-form commentary collected for the 2016 survey contained 101 negative mentions concerning Shutesbury’s high taxes, occasionally more than once in the same comment. A few noted their concern about themselves or others being priced out of town by high taxes.

What About the Library?

The 2016 free-form survey had 121 comments with at least one mention of the word “library” used in several different contexts: 

➤72 comments expressed the desire for a new or bigger library; many were tied in with the idea of a library as a community center or a library with a separate space for community gatherings;

➤34 liked the library and its services in their current forms;

➤10 commented on the divisions caused by the 2010 - 2011 library campaign;

➤ 5  comments mentioned parking, decreasing the library budget, a lack of diversity in town, and getting a new library for free or with no increase in taxes.

If I had to tease out from this free-form survey the one thing Shutesbury residents value the most, it would be the sense of or the longing for community. Considering its popularity and low cost, fostering this concept–using town infrastructure we already possess–should be a no-brainer for Shutesbury.

What Do Shutesburians Have In Common?

What three things do you love the most about living in Shutesbury? Post your answers here: NextDoor: What We Love About Shutesbury.

 

Weekly Factoids:

 

U.S. state with the highest in-migration in 2021: Vermont (74%)

 

U.S. state with the highest out-migration in 2021: New Jersey (71%)

 

Percentages for Massachusetts: Inbound = 42.4%  Outbound = 57.6%

 

Source: United Van Lines 2021 National Movers Study