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Students tell Bangor City Council survey finds strong neighbor ties but widespread concern about affordable housing and school safety
Summary
Students from Bangor High presented results from the Bangor Youth Engagement Project to the council, reporting that 90.7% of respondents said they know their neighbors, 48% listed affordable housing as a top concern and 37.1% expressed some school-safety worries; presenters proposed community cleanups, partnerships and volunteer pathways.
Students representing the Bangor Youth Engagement Project presented survey results to the Bangor City Council and urged city leaders to invest in programs that strengthen neighborhood ties and expand opportunities for youth civic participation.
Dawson Nevills, the project’s student liaison, told the council that the initiative aims to give young people “a seat at the table” and to teach students “to be curious and ask the tough questions.” He described meetings with city leaders including Councilor Beck and Police Chief Mark Hathaway to inform students about municipal operations.
The students said the survey, distributed at Bangor High School, found that 90.7% of respondents reported they know their neighbors and that the average quality-of-life rating among respondents was 5.59 out of 10. Students reported that 48% of respondents identified affordable housing as their most frequently mentioned concern. On school safety, presenters said 62.8% of respondents reported feeling safe at school while 37.1% reported they did not.
Presenters (Matea Clarissa Gwan, Nora Len, Faiy Len and Julia Gabriel Ureta) said the survey was distributed via posters with QR codes and that participation varied by grade; they acknowledged limits in the survey design (some questions were not required). When asked about the 48% figure for housing concerns, the students said the survey did not always capture whether that concern referred to students’ personal housing situations or broader community conditions.
“To me, young people are the future, and they deserve a seat at the table,” Nevills said. Council Leonard praised the presentation and offered quick advice from his experience: “When that happens, just get louder,” he said, urging perseverance when students raise inconvenient truths.
The student presenters recommended concrete, low-cost actions the council and city partners could support: organized neighborhood cleanups to build connections, partnerships with groups such as Bangor Beautiful, beautification projects including murals, and creating volunteer pathways through organizations like the National Honor Society. They asked the council to recognize the founding student core team with an award and a photograph.
Students and staff cautioned that participation numbers were approximate. Presenters estimated that about 36% of respondents were seniors and subsequently said roughly 10% of the full student body had responded; they did not have final verified participation counts at the podium.
The council thanked the students for the presentation and asked staff to keep working with the group on next steps and outreach methods.
