While air quality has significantly improved in the region since the mid-1980s, automobile use has increased carbon dioxide and ozone levels. Urban development is affecting natural habitats by increasing sediments and pollutants in our streams. As a result, the region is searching for solutions to improve its watersheds and restore native salmon populations. Our citizens are becoming better educated. Reading skills and math skills of students have generally increased.
Some families continue to be buffeted by economic and social forces.
More people live in poverty now than in 1980, many of them children. Domestic violence also continues to exact a toll on children and families. Drug use among students is no longer declining and, for younger age groups, is beginning to increase. In addition, drug-related deaths more than doubled in the past six years. Citizens are generally safer, and they feel safer, in our community.