Civic engagement encompasses measures of community well-being primarily focused around its members' level of engagement, cohesion, and participation in society. The Dallas Primary Metropolitan Statistical Area (PMSA) is an extremely diverse area, with numerous ethnicities, races, nationalities, and other backgrounds. Each culture is an integral part of the community life. Social and political networks are essential to building a healthy community, as are the organizations that enable them. General goodwill and social capital are key indicators of strong civic engagement. The aspirations and indicators chosen give a representative picture of the general state of civic engagement in the Dallas PMSA. While some indicators portray a sense of optimism and good health, others may indicate areas of concern where the Dallas PMSA has room for improvement or more far reaching change.
- While population continues to increase in all counties of the Dallas PMSA, it is increasing at higher rates in outlying counties than in Dallas County, especially in Collin, Denton, and Rockwall Counties, according to the Real Estate Center of Texas A&M University, based upon information from the U.S. Census Bureau.
- The Dallas PMSA continues to grow rapidly in racial and ethnic diversity; however; there is a continuing trend of a drop in the population of 20- to 34-year-olds in the city of Dallas and Dallas County, and also in Collin and Denton Counties, according to Census 2000 data.
- Availability of volunteering opportunities have continued to increase in the Dallas PMSA, with about 81,000 referrals made in the Volunteer Center of North Texas' fiscal year 2005.
- While the elected leadership in the Dallas PMSA, and especially the City of Dallas, is made up of people of diverse racial and ethnic backgrounds, it does not necessarily reflect the racial and ethnic mix for the areas represented.
- Diversity within the leadership of businesses in the Dallas PMSA continues be an area of needed improvement, based on reported national averages or "top business" lists.
- Hate crimes in the Dallas PMSA reached a new high in 2004, with a proportionately high number of crimes motivated by race, sexual orientation, and ethnicity occurring in the Dallas PMSA compared with the state of Texas, as reported by area police departments and the FBI.
- The Dallas PMSA continues to make strides in accessibility for those with disabilities or language barriers, especially in the area of making Internet sites for public organizations accessible in the Spanish language.
- Statistics from the U.S. Census Bureau show that people in the Dallas PMSA are less stable residentially than the national average, but about average within the state of Texas.
- Small business loan activity has increased steadily in the Dallas PMSA in the most recent reported years, according to the Small Business Association.
- The number, activity, and funding of nonprofits and philanthropic organizations in the Dallas PMSA continue to be lower than the national average or those of other large cities in Texas, according to Charity Navigator.
- According to the Association of Religious Data Archives and other sources, adherence to religious beliefs increased between 1990 and 2000 at greater rates in the Dallas PMSA than in Texas as a whole, and at greater rates in Texas as a whole than in the nation, but the number of congregants decreased in nearly all counties of the PMSA during this time period.
- While religious outreach is difficult to quantify in the Dallas PMSA, more than one fifth of the number of organizations in Texas who participated in relief for those affected by Hurricane Katrina were in the Dallas PMSA, according to GuideStar.
- Dallas continues to experience a high percentage of births to mothers who have not completed high school, according to data from the Annie E. Casey Foundation.
- The city of Dallas lags behind other cities in Texas and the national averages for computer and Internet usage in homes, according to The Media Audit.
- Public libraries are impacting this disparity by responding to the increasing need for public computer and Internet access. They are making public workstations available as much as possible and planning for increased future needs, while at the same time dealing with funding cuts.
Civic Engagement: Social Well-Being & Harmony encompasses 12 aspirations and 26 indicators.