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NURS 4440

Windshield Survey Tool

For Community Health Nurses to be able to knowledgeably plan services for a community, it is
essential to know a specific community, identify health-related resources that may be helpful to
members, and learn about gaps in services. A windshield survey is conducted from a car and
provides a visual overview of a community. Conditions and trends in the community that could
affect the health of the population are noted. This data provides background and context for
working in the community or for conducting a community assessment. The clinical instructor
will make specific assignments for the Survey. Information gathered from this survey is to be
incorporated in the group’s wiki for the Community Assessment Project.

Notes

Boundaries
Are the boundaries geographical, political, or
economic? How is this seen? Do
neighborhoods have names? Are there sub-
communities? How are these identified?
Boundaries
Geographical boundaries include I-77 and Lake
Norman. Economic boundaries include
Downtown Mill Area which appear to be older
homes with a lower-middle class status. The
rural areas of Mooresville contain a wide
variety of homes from old to new and lower to
higher appraised properties. Lake Norman, the
newer part of Mooresville, contains higher to
middle class homes.

Some neighborhoods have names and some are

stand alone. The older homes appear to be
more the stand alone type, where the newer
homes seem to be in developments.

Sub-communities of Mooresville include Lake

Norman. Lake Norman is identified by
billboards and signs when entering the
community.

Housing and Zoning Housing and Zoning

What is the age of the buildings? What are
the construction materials? Are the
residences single family or multifamily
dwellings? What is the size and condition of
the lots (repaired or damaged)?
The ages of the buildings in this region appear
to range from early 1900’s to < 5 years old.
Construction materials include brick, wood,
vinyl siding, and manufactured homes. A
majority of homes in this area are single
family. There were some multifamily
dwellings that are mainly noted in the Lake
Norman area. The lots vary on the location of
the home. Inside city limits are smaller lots

Signs of Decay
Is the area well maintained or in disrepair? Is
there garbage strewn? Are there
trashed/abandoned cars, places for rodents or
other wildlife to hide, vacant lots?
Parks and Recreational Areas
Are there play areas for children and adults?
Are they safe and maintained? Who uses
them?
Common Areas
Where do people collect for social gatherings
of all sorts; where do they “hang out”? Are
they for particular groups or are they open to
all? Are there signs posted?
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(less than one acre). The lots in the historical
area are more developed with lots of shrubbery
that are not very well kept. In the rural area,
homes have more land that varies between
trees and fields. The newer developed areas
and Lake Norman have smaller lots but the lots
are very well kept and include landscaping.
Signs of Decay
Upper – middle class areas are very well
maintained. In the lower income housing
areas, there are piles of trash on the sides of the
road. We saw several mattresses on the side of
the road as well. A few homes had land filled
with trashed cars. No rodents notes.
Parks and Recreational Areas
We noted many parks during our windshield
survey. Some nicer than others. All appeared
to be kept in a safe, playable manner. Youth
sports teams were observed using these parks,
as well as children in play with their parents.
Lazy 5 Ranch appears to be a popular place for
families to go to see exotic animals. They have
Lamas, horses, giraffes, etc. We drove in the
entrance but did not pay to visit the animals.
Charles Mack Citizen Center is a civic center
for numerous activities to include things such
as self defense courses.
Multiple Golf Courses were seen – all appear
open to public
Common Areas
The Prickly Pear is a mexican cuisine
restaurant that displayed poster for live music
events. This place is open to the public.
Queens Landing includes boat rides, putt-putt,
piano bar, bumper boats and jet ski rentals.
This place is open to the public.
Other bars and restaurants all appear to be open
to the public.

Stores
What stores (grocery,
retail, drug, dry cleaning, etc.) are in the
area? How do residents travel to them?
Transportation
How do most people get around the area? Is
there public transportation? If so what kind
and does it appear to be used? Who uses it?
What is the condition of the streets, roads,
highways?
Communication
Is there evidence of local and national
newspapers to other media? Are there
informational posters on streets, busses,
billboards, etc.?
Service Centers
Where are the services for the community
located – health care, social services, schools,
employment offices etc.?
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Stores
Food Lion, Harris Teeter, Bottom Groceries,
and Walmart Super Center.
Rite-Aid, CVS, Walgreens, Medi-Cap
Residents seem to travel to these sites via
privately owned vehicles.
There are many small privately owned
businesses such as coffee shops, restaurants
and consignment shops that are found in the
historical downtown district. Other areas have
franchises such as blockbuster, Applebees,
Walmart, etc.
Transportation
People get around by privately owned vehicles.
There is no public transportation at this time
that we noted. There are signs posted of
upcoming public transportation labeled ‘Park
& Ride Transit Station’. Newly developed
areas and main highways are well maintained.
In the historic district there are roads that need
improvements. In the rural areas there are
some roads that are not paved.
Communication
We saw the local newspaper building which is
called The Tribune. There are billboards in the
newer developed areas and there are some
posters on the sides of the streets in the historic
area to provide advertisement.
Service Centers
There is one main hospital we saw in the south-
western region of Mooresville. Lake Norman
Regional Medical Center is surrounded by
several medical buildings. There are a few
family practice offices noted in different areas
of this region. The schools are spread
throughout Mooresville. There are 2 districts;
Mooresville Graded School District and Iredell
Statesville School System. It appears the
employment offices are located with Social
Services for Iredell County.

People in the Community
Who is in the area during the day? How are
they dressed? Are there animals (pets) with
them or in the area? What evidence is there
of particular. “classes” of people – upper,
middle, working, lower?
Industries
What are the major industries? What
types of occupations are evident?
Protective Services
Where are fire and police stations located? Is
there evidence of police and fire protection in
the area? Is it more in one region than another?
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People in the Community
In the historic area we saw a woman opening
her shop by putting a sign out on the side walk.
We saw two older men sitting on a bench on
Main Street drinking coffee. There weren’t a
lot of people walking down the streets as the
main source of transportation is by car. The
few we did see walking appeared to be poorly
dressed and not very well groomed. By
looking at the people we saw in the historic
area we assume by the way they were dressed
that they were middle-lower class. Other
evidence we noted were the cars. Different
locations had different cars of values from low
to high.
Industries
The historic part of Mooresville is built around
an old shut down mill. There are other
factories and run down mills noted throughout
the area. NASCAR seems to play a large part
in the newer developing Mooresville. There
are many companies related to race car driving
found in the city. We did note there are quite a
bit of auto dealership and auto body shops.
Also noted there are numerous banks, gas
stations and shops.
Protective Services
There are 4 fire stations equally distributed
through the city. We saw one fire station, one
police station and did note police patrolling
throughout the city.
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Ethnicity Ethnicity
What is the predominant ethnic group? Are On observation, we mainly noted Caucasian
there residents from a variety of ethnic ethnicity.
backgrounds or is the community mostly one There are no observed stores, restaurants or
group? Which one? Are there stores, languages that indicate a particular ethnic
restaurants, churches, schools, or languages group.
that indicate a particular ethnic group(s)?

Religion Religion
What churches and church-run schools are We observed a lot of churches throughout this
in the area? Who apparently uses them and region. Churches varying of different
when? How many are there? protestants.

Health and Morbidity Health and Morbidity

Is there evidence of any health problems We observed some obese individuals in the
such as drug abuse, communicable community and some people smoking were
diseases, chronic diseases, mental illnesses observed during our windshield survey.
etc.?

Politics Politics
Is there evidence of any political activity? Are No evidence noted of current political
there any signs that indicate predominant activities. There were signs and posters around
political parties and political concerns? for advertisement of who to vote for.

(Modified from Stanhope M., & Knollmueller, R. N. (1997). Public and community health
nurse’s consultant: A health promotion guide. St. Louis: Mosby.)