Vergennes Parks & Recreation
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News: Recreation Survey Results

Date Published Author
10/14/2020 12:00:00 AM   

In September 2020, the Recreation Department of Vergennes surveyed residents of Vergennes and surrounding towns about their use and interest in recreation in Vergennes. 135 households from Vergennes responded (as well as 46 from surrounding communities not including in this analysis).

Of the Vergennes residents surveyed:

  • 9% reported that they or someone in their household have a physical disability
  • 7% reported a race/ethnicity other than White/Caucasian
  • 24% reported household income below the state median
  • The households surveyed included:
    • 131 children
    • 240 adults under 65
    • 54 adults 65+
The top priority identified as a priority for the City is safe walking/running/biking areas like sidewalks and trails. One in ten of Vergennes Residents surveyed said someone in their household has a physical disability. Between that and young families with strollers, accessibility is a priority for many residents. Walking trails are one of the biggest requests for recreational assets and lack of connectivity of accessible walking trails and sidewalks can make it challenging to use even the most accessible trails.

Since August 2020:

  • Mountain bike/walking trails created at MacIntosh Park courtesy of Addison County Bike Club.
  • Improvements made at the Outdoor Classroom courtesy of a group of volunteers.
We will be doing more research over the next few months to apply for grants to make more accessible trails around the City!

Outdoor Activities

  Children Myself Other Adults Everyone Total
Swimming 13 17 6 57 93
Bike Riding 13 10 10 72 115
Walking/Running 0 29 5 94 128
Boating 2 9 10 54 75
Fishing 17 5 13 13 48
Team Sports 26 10 5 16 57
Racquet Sports 1 16 8 20 45
Playground 40 2 1 13 56
Disc Golf 1 4 3 9 17
Golf 1 6 11 14 32
Dog Walking 1 9 1 59 70
Gardening 1 41 14 47 103
Other 3 9 2 10 24

Vergennes residents also identified a number of activities that they would like to engage in but haven’t. These include:

Biking/mountain biking
Boating/Canoe/Kayak/Sail
XC skiing
Trails
Climbing
Tennis
Swimming
Walking
Yoga/exercise class

Indoor Activities:

  Children Myself Other Adults Everyone Total
Board Games 4 11 6 98 119
Reading 3 38 12 106 159
Video Games 37 10 14 29 90
Virtual Get Togethers 5 13 7 59 84
Exercise Class/Gym 1 41 15 29 86
Art Projects 36 13 5 44 98
Computer-based Projects 16 16 8 30 70
Other 2 8 1 13 24
 
Top indoor activities residents would like to participate in, if/when it’s safe.

Board games/Card games
Exercise/yoga class
Indoor basketball/indoor soccer/dodgeball/volleyball
Ping pong
Gymnastics/dance/parkour

Community Resources Used

  Never Occasionally Regularly O+R
Basketball Court 57 28 5 33
Skate Park 53 27 8 35
Swimming Pool 28 31 44 75
Ice RInk 48 30 9 39
City Park 8 78 27 105
Tennis Court 50 28 15 43
Falls Park 10 71 34 105
MacDonough Park 32 43 21 64
VUES Playground 29 37 34 71
VUES/VUHS Field 29 43 19 62
Sidewalks 1 12 111 123
Trail @ Falls Park 17 64 31 95
Outdoor Classroom 45 38 11 49
Bixby Library 14 61 38 99
Opera House 22 64 17 81
Gym 57 27 12 39

Budget Priorities, number ranked first

  Rank #1
Annual/regular maintenance 83
Build new facilities 54
Programming 31
Beautification 2
Purchase equipment 4


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