Gardiner Montana Community - Research Paper Example

Gardiner Montana Community Executive Summary Gardiner Montana community – has been named after Johnston Gardiner, the mountain man. Gardiner comes under Park County. Gardiner is a census designated place (CDP) In Park County, Montana, United States. As per the 2000 census, its population was 851. Gardiner came into existence in 1880 and serves the entrance purpose to Yellowstone Park. Gardiner’s total area is 3.9 square miles (10.0km²), out of which land area comprises 3.8 square miles (9.8 km²), and water area is 0.1 square miles (0.2 km²), 2.32%. A good number of Gardiner residents have been working in Yellowstone. There are a limited number of noticeable locations, churches, creeks, hotels and park beside a post office in Gardiner. Industries for men and women are segregated as per their expertise. Similarly occupations for men and women are not similar. Gardiner population consists of different races and its ancestries belong to different nationalities. Education profile of the people over 25 years indicates a high percentage of Gardiners have passed high school. A good percentage of people go to their work places in their own transport alone. Per capita income of Gardiner is lower than the U.S. The people of Gardiner community have a vision for the bright future but the planning process over some years has been in jeopardy over its growth policy. There are issues over the growth plan not in line with the state law. Gardiner Population As per the 2000 census, the Gardiner population was 851 consisting of 435 households and 210 families living in the CDP. Density of population was 224.9 people per square mile. There were 497 dwelling units with an average density of 131.3/sq mi. White population in the CDP consisted of 97.30%, African-American 1.41%, Native American 0.24%, Asian 0.12% from other races, and 0.59% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race formed 0.47% of the population . Out of 435 dwelling units, 22.1% had children under the age of 18 residing with them, 40.0% married couples were residing together, 5.7% dwelling units were possessed by females only without husbands, and 51.5% were singles. 43.2% of all residents were made up of individuals and 4.8% had one member above the age of 65 years or older. The average size of a dwelling was 1.96 and the average family size was 2.73 . Population distribution age-wise in the CDP consisted of 20.8% below 18 years of age, 2.9% between 18 to 24, 40.5% between 25 to 44, 28.0% between 45 to 64, and 7.8% were 65 years or above in age. The median age was 39 years. For every 100 females there were 96.5 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 99.4 males. This difference in general overall age between females and male population matters least as age 18 and above difference is nominal with 100: 99.4 . Gardiner being a small area, population profile with line graphs is not available but age statistics for Gardiner, ME for the population of 6,061 people is given below from 0-4 to 85+ . Age Statistics for Gardiner, ME Number of people living within the area in this age range Marital Statistics for Gardiner, ME Number of people living in the area who have this marital status Gardiner Economy As per the CDP census 2000, Gardiner’s per capita income was $17,810 in comparison to national per capita income, $21,587. Some interesting figures reflect the difference between the male median income ($30,240)and female median income ($17,614) while the household median income in the CDP was $30,125 and the same for a family was $46,071. Families below the poverty line were around 3.4% and population for the same, i.e. below the poverty line was 8.2% including 4.8% under 18 years of age. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, 2000 Census; ePodunk, an age-wise comparison among the Gadiner, Montana, and the U.S. is given below. 2000 CENSUS DATA GARDINER MT US MEDIAN HOUSEHOLD INCOME BY AGE ($ IN PREVIOUS YEAR) Number Number Number Median household income 30,125 33,024 41,994 Householder under 25 19,583 17,446 22,679 Householder 25-34 30,313 31,708 41,414 Householder 35-44 28,750 39,007 50,654 Householder 45-54 33,250 43,373 56,300 Householder 55-64 37,500 37,311 47,447 Householder 65-74 36,667 27,865 31,368 Householder 75 and older 31,250 20,312 22,259 PER CAPITA INCOME BY RACE OR ETHNICITY ($) Number Number Number Per capita income 17,810 17,151 21,587 White 17,993 17,934 23,918 Black or African American 11,550 15,278 14,437 Native American 17,033 8,868 12,893 Asian 20,029 14,464 21,823 Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander 0 11,373 15,054 Some other race 3,000 11,151 10,813 Two or more races 2,160 9,360 13,405 Hispanic or Latino 10,000 10,373 12,111 Sources: U.S. Census Bureau, 2000 Census; ePodunk Major Industries Major industries in Gardiner included accommodation & food services, arts, entertainment, construction, mining, quarrying and oil & gas extraction for males. Male population ratio as per industry segment is 35% in accommodation and food services, 18% in arts, entertainment and recreation, 11% in public administration, 9% in construction, 4% in professional, scientific, and technical services, 3% in mining, quarrying, and oil and gas extraction, and 3% in repair and maintenance < http://www.city-data.com/city/Gardiner-Montana.html#ixzz0kskFPOms>. Females were employed in accommodation and food services (33%), public administration (9%), arts, entertainment, and recreation (8%), educational services (7%), professional, scientific, and technical services (5%), health care (3%), and gasoline stations (3%) < http://www.city-data.com/city/Gardiner-Montana.html#ixzz0kskFPOms>. Most common occupations for men include electrical equipment mechanics and other installation, maintenance, and repair occupations including supervisors (9%), other management occupations except farmers and farm managers (7%), building and grounds cleaning and maintenance occupations (7%), other sales and related workers including supervisors (6%), vehicle and mobile equipment mechanics, installers, and repairers (5%), carpenters (5%), and food and beverage serving workers except waiters (4%) < http://www.city-data.com/city/Gardiner-Montana.html#ixzz0kskFPOms>. Most common occupations for women include secretaries and administrative assistants (9%), other office and administrative support workers including supervisors (6%), other management occupations except farmers and farm managers (6%), cashiers (6%), business operations specialists (5%), bookkeeping, accounting, and auditing clerks (5%), and cooks and food preparation workers (5%) < http://www.city-data.com/city/Gardiner-Montana.html#ixzz0kskFPOms>. Vision for the Future People of Gardiner have a vision to make it a place of proud dwelling through the Park County growth policy, which was adopted by the County Commissioners on July 26, 2006. All stakeholders of the future vision of Park County including the Planning Office, the Park County Planning Board, citizen task forces and all citizens have developed a document envisioning the development of Park County (Nolt 2007). Growth policies serve the purpose of building reference points to be used as a tool for developing new areas and infrastructure. Growth of an area is represented through identities of the residing communities, open green parks, property rights and standard of living. The tussle has arisen over how much control county offices should have in changing the growth landscape. Services of the Montana-based Cossitt Consulting firm were taken to devise a Park County Growth Policy in January 2004 by the Park County Commissioners (Nolt 2007). Citizens of Gardiner among other areas of the Park County have openly shared their vision for the growth of their community, facilities they would see being provided and the pattern of the growth of Gardiner community like others (Nolt 2007). All communities have assimilated their visions with the 1998 plan to be finally included in the Cossit document but legal issues have surfaced due to the county zoning change with the commissioners rezoning 300 acres to commercial zone. It has created animosity among different stakeholders (Nolt 2007). The second round of meeting was organized in February 2005 wherein applications were sought from the 12 Citizen Task Force Focus Groups to build a Park County Growth Policy wherein each group represented “individuals living in a distinct area of Park County” and also “include citizens from across Park County who have a wide array of interests in planning the future of Park County” (Nolt 2007). New changes in the policy again became the reason to the deadlock over the growth policy. Thus, the tussle among different stakeholders has been going on endlessly affecting the interests of all areas of the Park County. For the time being the vision of the growth of Park County and with it of Gardiner is suspended (Nolt 2007). Works Cited “Gardiner, Montana”. City-Data.com. 12 April 2010. . Nolt, David. “Vision: Will Park County be Paradise Lost or Found? A County Near Yellowstone Falls Apart Over Planning.” Livingston Weekly. 14 January 2007 . Read More