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Family,
A Gallup-Knight Foundation study claims that communities with high citizen
engagement grow and prosper more than others. According to the study,
these are the factors that drive citizen engagement in Wichita.
friends
remember
a soldier
“Don’t worry ill be
coming home before you know it.”
Alex Funcheon, e-mailing his parents,
five days before he was killed in action
BY ROY WENZL
The Wichita Eagle
T
he more passionate residents feel about their com- put into the ground,” his little
munities — and the more engaged they are in them
— the more communities grow and prosper, a new Wichita lags co
m
T sister Gloria wrote in her
diary. “People got out of their
study shows. in citizen enga munities of similar size cars to watch. Police saluted.
gement.
The Wichita area has fewer engaged residents Strangers cried. In the limo no
than cities of similar size, according to the Soul of Wichita one spoke so I looked out the
the Community study by Gallup and the Knight Foundation. Engaged window. Looked into the faces
We’re stuck in “neutral,” it claims. Neutral 24 percent of strangers looking at me.”
Gallup defines “citizen engagement” as a person’s psycho- Not engaged 43 percent The day after the funeral,
logical connection with his or her community, which goes
beyond mere satisfaction into passion and pride. Comparison ci
34 percent President Bush appeared in
Greensburg, kissing homeless
PART TWO
We believe our community is strong in education and ties mothers on the cheek, hug- OF SEVEN
(Columbia, S.C
.;
basic services such as highways, housing and health care, Tallahassee, Fla. Lexington, Ky.; ging children, chatting up lit-
the study shows. ; Columbus, Ga. tle old ladies beside base-
)
But we’d love it more if the city featured more entertain- Engaged ments gaping at blue sky. The Funcheons watched
ment venues and social gathering spots, were more aestheti- Neutral 30 percent this on the news.
cally pleasing, and were more welcoming toward different Not engaged 38 percent Air Force One had landed in Wichita so Bush
types of people, the study says. 32 percent could fly in a helicopter to Greensburg. Bob
growled at the TV: “He should have called us.”
Please see SURVEY, Page 6A Gloria rolled her eyes. Did her father feel entitled?
Gloria was 18, just graduating, a stalwart on East
© 2008 The Wichita Eagle and Classified 8C Crossword 7B Local & State 1B Opinion 7A Weather 8B Your Week 3B
DAILY