What Are Barriers to Making That Happen?

    “Need to bring diverse people to the table and open the opportunity for all to be involved.”

     

    Money, of course, is often a barrier to making things happen and realizing a vision, and that was identified by several participants, as well as economic/workforce issues. But the category of response that came up the most to this question was resistance/negativity, with two respondents giving “CAVE people” as their answer: Citizens Against Virtually Everything.

     

     

     

    Economy/Workforce

    • Economics: low income, limited education
    • Economy/workforce issues
    • Income levels
    • Jobs/workforce/raising per capita income
    • Lack of industry and businesses to invest in our community
    • Lack of investment in workforce development and housing
    • Lack of talent pool
    • Need to attract talent from outside of Laurens County to offer a different perspective
    • Need to market the area to promote all of the unique opportunities
    • Not enough well-paying jobs/education in the trades

    Housing

    • Lack of housing, workforce
    • Need more builders to build more affordable homes
    • Need of housing options for families

    Infrastructure

    • Lack of developed road systems
    • Lack of zoning
    • No land use planning in place
    • Utilities

    Leadership

    • Lack of community support
    • Leadership
    • Politics—people out for self-gain, not community gain
    • Divided leadership

    Money

    • Money/Lack of money (4 responses)
    • Lack of funding (2 responses)
    • Lack of investment
    • Monetary funds
    • Tax base

    Resistance/Negativity

    • CAVE people (Citizens Against Virtually Everything) (2 responses)
    • An entrenched group of citizens who refuse to consider change and positive momentum
    • Attitudes
    • Changing the mind/mentality of the people
    • Distrust of progress/desire to stay put and not change
    • Fear of change/fear of failure
    • Forward-thinking leadership (lack of) and community division
    • Insecurity
    • Lack of unity and vision (2 responses)
    • Mindset of some of the people
    • Much of our community is VERY resistant to change and growth
    • Naysayers and groups that oppose without wanting to find solutions to problems
    • Negativity: people don’t want to change (3 responses)
    • People who hang on to negative past, don’t accept change well, don’t accept new ideas well
    • People who oppose taxes to have better services
    • People who resist change and are happy with how things are (with no regard for growth)
    • Resistance to change
    • Too many like it the way it is

    Other

    • Age of population
    • Need more options for young adults to be involved in and grow/opportunities
    • Lack of retail/restaurant spots
    • Lack of trails/green space
    • Education/education level