The purpose of this assessment is to prioritize the specific needs, objectives, and strategies on which UWSL will focus its community impact work. UWSL contracted with Utah Foundation to conduct this assessment, which is a year-long project involving focus groups, surveys, data collection, research, and analysis.

During the first stage of the assessment, Utah Foundation held focus groups with UWSL’s Change Councils, main funders, and staff to determine and gain consensus about what the vision of change is for each of UWSL’s priority areas … Read more »

As part of the 2010 Utah Priorities Project, Utah Foundation, KSL Television and Radio, Deseret News, and the Hinckley Institute sponsored a ground-breaking survey of Utah voters and delegates to the major party conventions. The survey shows distinct differences between party delegates and voters, with delegates usually taking more zealous positions than their party’s voters. The strongest distinctions are, as expected, between the two major parties. The survey also provides insight on Republican delegates’ opinions in the U.S. Senate race. … Read more »

In this special election year, Utahns are less confident that the state is heading in the right direction than they were two years ago. Their concerns about some issues, like energy and transportation, have eased since 2008. However, other issues are now of greater concern, including the economy, government spending, the ethics of elected officials, and states’ rights versus the federal government. … Read more »

This fall, the national economy started to show signs of recovery from the recession, while home prices began stabilizing or even slightly rising in many U.S. cities. However, past experience shows that the Utah economy, and particularly the housing market, does not always follow national trends. This has certainly been the case over the last decade or so, during which time Utah’s housing market has lagged behind the rest of the nation in both its appreciation and depreciation. … Read more »

How does Utah compare to the nation in terms of its consumption expenditures and growth in debt levels? This analysis provides insight into the financial stability of Utah households and how financially prepared they are for the economic recession. Results from the analysis show that Utah does not appear to be worse than the rest of the nation in terms of household debt loads; however, Utah did follow the same trend of accumulating significant debts during the recent economic expansion and housing bubble … Read more »

The state of the housing market in Utah has been and continues to be a topic of concern for Utah residents. Housing issues, such as “bubbles” home value depreciation, and housing affordability affect nearly everyone, whether or not they are current homeowners. This research brief reviews the current status of Utah’s housing situation, including trends in homeownership, prices, sales, affordability, and some of the impacts the housing market has on the economy. … Read more »

Utah Foundation performed the research for the Community Assessment released in April 2007 by the United Way of Salt Lake. This project involved four research phases: … Read more »