Settlement in the Sierra

* Deforestation in the Mid-1800s

Resource Use: Changing Needs Through Time

Regional Economies

* Social and Economic Analysis

COMMUNITY WELL-BEING IN THE SIERRA

Management Scenarios and Strategies

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Measures of socioeconomic status and community capacity in the Sierra Nevada community aggregations reflect relatively independent components of well-being, and they measure different dimensions of it. The five-factor socioeconomic scale offers a useful though static perspective on socioeconomic status, while the measure of capacity provides a current and important complementary perspective on overall well-being. Low socioeconomic scores are found in areas where high percentages of individuals and families within community aggregations may lack sufficient socioeconomic resources to maintain a reasonable standard of living and hence experience lower well-being. Capacity provides an indication of the ability of local communities to foster an environment in which local residents can identify and address their needs and goals. Low capacity scores indicate a reduced ability to effectively address the needs of local residents and take advantage of local development opportunities that might benefit them. Low capacity therefore reflects not only lower well-being but also a reduced ability (and likelihood) by residents of aggregations to improve local well-being, including socioeconomic status. Community capacity scores are positively associated with the socioeconomic scale, but this correlation is weak. The independence of these two measures appears to be due mostly to the critical role of social capital, which proved to be a primary determinant of community capacity.

Community capacity varies widely across the Sierra Nevada. The three components of community capacity (physical, human, and social capital) sometimes appear to be in conflict with one another. That is, where human capital is perceived as high or increasing, social capital may be low or in decline. This is particularly true in aggregations in which well-educated retirees or professionals move into an area and do not work on community issues cooperatively with one another or with residents who have lived there longer. Community history was identified as playing a role in community capacity. There are a number of community aggregations, particularly in the San Joaquin region, to which medium-high or high capacity was related to a long history and continued presence of multiple old families. In some cases, community capacity was negatively affected by divergent values of populations of different ages. Conflicts between retirees and younger families with children were noted in a number of aggregations. Retirees often demand services but resist changes that may be necessary to provide them, and retirees are often reluctant to pay for schools and other services that appear to benefit only families with children. These clashes appear to be strongest in some of the affluent, gated communities, where community capacity is negatively affected by internal strife and lack of cooperation between these two groups. In a few community aggregates, however, the knowledge, experiences, and willingness of retirees to help the community were particularly noted as positively contributing to capacity. Other volunteerism-based community services are negatively affected by populations aging in place, particularly in areas where youth leave communities and in bedroom communities with a large percentage of commuters.