Despite the ongoing encouragement of those outside the flood zone, we on the Gulf Coast are notorious for refusing to leave our homes. Why?

Is it pure stubbornness in face of the facts? Is it fear of leaving to start afresh somewhere new? Is it pure and simple inertia? Or could it be something more?

Well that is the exact question that Gallup, the polling people, are addressing in a new study called the “Soul of the Community.”

Via WLOX-TV:

The report is the first in a multi-year study of 26 communities where Knight Foundation founders, John S. and James L Knight, owned newspapers. The communities vary in population size, economic levels and how urban or rural they are. Gallup randomly surveyed a representative sample of nearly 14,000 adults from Feb.1 through April 27, 2008, by phone.

The study compared residents’ emotional connection to where they live to the GDP growth in the 26 communities over the past five years. The findings show a significant correlation. Over the coming years, the researchers will analyze the trends to prove whether emotional connection drives economic growth, or the other way around. Within a smaller microcosm, such as a company, Gallup has been able to show that increasing employees’ emotional connection will indeed lead to improved financial performance of the company.

It would seem from the preliminary findings that a socially engaged community is one that will also prosper economically. To me this is a premise that has more than a little merit to it. Happier people work more efficiently and productively. An active array of social options tend to increase the happiness quotient, from my observations anyway.

Now there is one thing that gives me pause as I read through this (emphasis mine):

According to the “Soul of the Community” study, the number one quality that makes the Gulf Coast’s residents love where they live is social offerings (such as entertainment venues for people to meet). Beyond social offerings, residents also find education (kindergarten through college) to be a strength of the Gulf Coast.

While that may well be the truth of the matter I find it hard to believe. Anyone growing up down here knows what a complete joke education is in the Deep South. The National Assessment of Educational Progress state profiles for Mississippi and Louisiana should provide more than enough facts to back up this common-knowledge assertion.

The problems of poverty, race relations, and most other endemic issues faced by the Gulf Coast have their roots in the educational opportunities of the region (and lack thereof). I am truly amazed that the respondents of this study actually ranked it as a strength.

In short, while the overall premise seems a good one, I do have my doubts.