Better or worse?
The Old National Bank/Ball State University 2019 Hoosier Survey asked Indiana residents whether public roads, schools, parks and police and fire protection have become better or worse in their communities. Here is what they said:
Service Better (%) Worse (%)
Roads 37 18
Schools 21 16
Parks 35 7
Police/fire 25 6
Source: Bowen Center for Public Affairs at Ball State University
Indiana residents say schools and safety remain at the top of their priorities list.
They overwhelmingly want increased background checks for gun buyers. They are pretty evenly split on whether abortion should be outlawed. And nearly two-thirds believe their communities have plenty of available jobs.
Those are among the results of the annual Old National Bank/Ball State University Hoosier Survey released Tuesday by Ball State's Bowen Center for Public Affairs.
The telephone poll of 600 adults was conducted during the last three weeks of October and has a margin of error of 5.2 percentage points.
The survey found that improving public schools is a priority for 65% of respondents, and public safety/reducing crime is a priority for 62%, followed by improving local streets and roads, 52%; reducing local taxes, 35%; tearing down abandoned properties, 25%; improving local parks and trails, 19%; and improving public arts, 15%.
This was the 11th Hoosier Survey in the past dozen years. A year ago, school safety led the list of priorities with a 66% response, but it was not among the choices offered to respondents in this year's poll.
Charles Taylor, a Ball State political scientist and managing director of the Bowen Center, said Tuesday that the 2018 survey asked about priorities for the entire state and this year's version asked about priorities for local communities. Improving schools and public safety finish as the two top priorities every year regardless of survey format, he said.
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