Cumberland County Receives Gold Stars, Red Flags on Community Group Report Card

MetroVisions says less than 60percent of families in Cumberland Countyown homes, and according to the community group, that is not enough.Home ownership is one of the red flag issues it lists inits annual Report Card.

"The initial bottom line is concern over theeconomic base. The ultimate bottom line isthe quality of life issue," says MetroVisions chairman Dr. Ernest Johnson.

The purpose ofthe benchmark report is to highlight what is goingwell in the community and to draw attention to whatneeds improving.

Some gold stars include:

Red flags include the high rate of child abuseand the high property tax.

MetroVisions says the property tax isone thing thatkeeps morepeople frombuying houses.

But there areothers. Military families often rent, and Cumberland County has a higherthanaverage poverty index and lower than averagefamily income.

"We need to address affordable housing," says county commissioner BreedenBlackwell. "Thatdoesn't mean necessarily mobile homes, but we haveto try and develop community awareness ofcommunity housing."

The report also suggests developing teams to look intoadditional solutions.