1. Utah Foundation Quality of Life Index Improving Utah’s Quality of Life October 12 th, 2011 Presented by Morgan Lyon Cotti, Senior Research Analyst, Utah Foundation (801) 355-1400 | morgan@utahfoundation.org morgan@utahfoundation.org www.utahfoundation.org

2. Quality of Life Quality of life is an expression of the general well-being of an individual, community or society. –It can be a subjective concept, difficult to measure and quantify. It is also an important measure –Need to know what aspects of our community need to be improved, and what parts need to be protected

3. Quality of Life in Utah Just how good is Utah’s quality of life? –“I’ve lived here for 68 years, and I’ve lived other places, but we always come back here.” –Anecdotally, people say they live here because of family, recreation, beauty Forbes Magazine, Gallup-Healthways and others rank Utah as a great place to live and do business

4. Creation of the Index Extensive literature review and research on quality of life measures Creation of the Index –Focus group –Survey of 20 factors that influence community quality of life Importance Quality Open-ended questions

5. Utah Foundation Quality of Life Index

6. Quality of Life Matrix

7. Challenges and Successes Challenges –Jobs –Public schools –Housing –Living costs –People accepting of differences Successes –Safety and security –Higher education –Quality healthcare –People support and help each other –Good parks –Natural surroundings