Hundreds of government, business, and nonprofit leaders gathered at the Rochester Museum and Science Center Friday morning for the latest report on how our local communities are doing in a number of ways, from public safety and housing, to education, and arts and culture.
ACT Rochester has released its 2017 community report card, a snapshot of data measuring progress on everything from education and housing to community engagement in the nine-county region.
Most of the statistics compiled for the report reflect data gathered through 2015.
Compared to the state as a whole, the Rochester region's health score shows room for improvement. ACT Rochester director Ann Johnson says this is due in part to an increase in sexually transmitted diseases and in the number of people living with AIDS.
"And I'm looking forward to engaging our local medical community to understand a little bit more why that's happening. Sometimes it's because the state does better and we're the same. Other times with these particular indicators it just means that more people are reporting."
The average total salary in the nine county region increased 4.5 percent between 2000 and 2015. Monroe County had the lowest increase at 1.1 percent. Ontario County had the highest increase at 31 percent.
New in the report this year is a measurement of public library visits. "In our region an average of six times a year a person will visit a library, but statewide it's only five times,” Johnson said. “In Rochester, 1.7 million people visited their libraries. That's equivalent to 8 times (a year) for one person."
The annual report card shows through already reported statistics that childhood poverty, especially in the city of Rochester, remains one of the region's greatest challenges.
