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Neighborhood Coalition presents resident survey: weather, small‑town feel and short‑term rentals top responses
Summary
The Highlands Neighborhood Coalition told the Town Board on Oct. 16 that roughly 300 residents have responded to a town-focused survey identifying weather, natural beauty, people and small‑town living as top positives and short‑term rentals, over‑tourism and over‑development as top threats to livability.
The Highlands Neighborhood Coalition presented results from a resident survey to the Town Board of Commissioners on Oct. 16, 2025, reporting roughly 300 responses collected over about 60 days and summarizing themes residents identified about livability, services and local threats.
Coalition board member Cathy Henson opened the presentation and said the group, formed in 2020 as a civic nonprofit, seeks to gather resident views on livability and emergency information needs. James Worrell, a coalition board member, described the outreach strategy—direct email to known contacts, outreach to neighborhood organizations and paid advertising—and said the survey reached an estimated audience of more than 5,000 people. The coalition said responses split roughly into three groups: full-time residents (about 32%), part-time year‑round residents (about 36%) and seasonal residents (about 31%).
The survey asked where respondents live, what local businesses they use or would like to see added, which charities they support, and three open-ended questions: what residents find special about Highlands, what the greatest threats to livability are, and any other comments or concerns. The coalition reported about 4,500 open-ended comments to be analyzed further.
Top positives identified were weather, natural beauty, people and small‑town living. Top threats listed by respondents were short‑term rentals, over‑tourism, over‑development and loss of the small‑town feel. Several full‑time respondents also highlighted difficulties accessing health care, emergency transport and ambulance/airlift coordination; aging‑in‑place needs such as transportation and in‑home services; and difficulty finding reputable contractors after Hurricane Helene.
Commissioners thanked the coalition and discussed outreach steps to increase participation, including using voter rolls and postcards. The coalition said it will continue gathering responses and aims to complete the current analysis by Thanksgiving, then return to the board with more detailed, collated results for further discussion; coalition leaders asked if the board would consider a follow-up meeting in November, December or January to review granular findings and potential next steps.
The presentation elicited suggestions for next steps, including forming a focused committee to study livability issues and data-driven policy options. No formal board action was taken; commissioners encouraged the coalition to continue outreach and to share final results with town staff and the public.
