kids

Owen County Vision 2020

Elementary and Middle School Youth Responses

VISION Imagine you have taken a time machine 15 years into the future. Describe what you want Owen County to be like. What would you want to be able to do here? What would you want Owen County to have?

Things for kids to do/place to hang out

More places you and your friends and family can go and have fun and hang out. (25)
More hang out places. (13)
I would want Owen County to have more places for kids our age now, to hang out with friends. (11)
More places for kids. (9)
Industrial park could be a skate park.
I would want to go out to places in town. (4)
Owen County has a lot of bored teenagers. We need a place for them to hang out. (3)
A place to get together without having to go to town.
I want people to have fun here and not have to drive elsewhere to do so. (8)
Fun, a good place to be. (5)
More stuff to do after school, like activities. (12)
I would want something for kids. Somewhere to go and do things. Like a bowling alley, movies, a stadium or etc. I would want more food choices except pizza and cheeseburgers (though they’re delicious).
I would like to be able to see joy in young kid’s lives. A bigger park for all ages would be really nice. Most kids have reduced to watching TV and not exercised. Kids should be healthy.
To have another 4-H club.
I would want to have a Tobacco festival each year.
Summer camp for kids.
A beach. (9)

Business/economic growth

I would like for this town to be a thriving county. No buildings vacant. Many businesses that have come into Owen County. (3)
I think Owen County has everything it really needs except maybe just another restaurant except DQ.
I don’t really care if the county changes at all, at this time we have mostly everything we need, but we could use a Wal-Mart and some restaurants.
I want to be able to drive down the street and not see a bunch of city stuff, like a bunch of apartments and fast food places. I would like to have a few but not a lot.
I want Owen County to have Wal-Mart. And I want to be able to work there
More local sports news.
More jobs/good jobs. (25)
More good paying jobs. (2)
I would want a nice job.
Jobs for grownups instead of teenagers.
More jobs for kids.
Owen County needs to have a Wal-Mart so that people could have jobs. Also Wal-Mart would have money coming into the county.
Like to work in Owen County. (5)
Offer wider variety of jobs.
Research lab.
Better service
A factory that hires people. (2)
No factories in Owen County so there would be no pollution.
I would want to be a gym teacher.
I want to be a veterinarian.
I would like to work at Dairy Queen. (2)
I want to be a teacher.
I would like to work in town at Dollar General.
Work as a lawyer. (2)
Large corporation offices architected by me.
I would like to own a business.
More businesses. (10)
More businesses besides restaurants.
More development in industrial needs.
Smarthouse. (6)
Solar power industries.
Change the IGA into a clothing store. I wouldn’t build anything else. If we do where would all the animals go?
More factories. (12)
I would like for Owen County to have more restaurants for the old citizens so they do not have to go grocery shopping all the time.
A recording studio because I want to become a singer.
I want to be able to go to a movie, to go out to eat, etc.
More shops/stores. (77)
A Wal-Mart. (192)
K-Mart. (5)
Target. (6)
Drug Stores. (2)
Movie Stores. (5)
Blockbuster. (4)
Video game stores. (15)
EBgames/game store. (10)
Card Shop.
Moonlight comics.
Anime Store. (7)
Electronic Shop. (2)
Sam Goody’s.
Work on games.
Toys ‘R Us. (13)
Bookstore. (2)
Nike Outlet/Store. (11)
Take out the Dollar Store and put in a tack shop.
Dick’s Sporting Goods. (4)
Bass Pro Shops. (6)
A big hunting store (i.e. Cabela’s). (9)
Sports of all Sorts. (5)
Clothing stores. (14)
A store for kids only. (3)
Gun store.
Dollar General. (4)
A magic store. (3)
Build-a-Bear Store. (2)
Home Depot. (4)
Liquor store.
More gyms. (13)
Fitness center. (2)
Bike shop. (3)
John Deere dealership. (2)
Yamaha dealer. (2)
A Bell’s Honda dealership.
Nice, cheap cars. (7)
New kind of car.
Car dealerships. (5)
Pet store. (21)
Skate [boarding] shop. (3)
Roller skate shop.
Flea Market.
Ice Cream shop. (5)
BMX store.
Tanning salon.
More restaurants. (125)
More variety of restaurants.
No more pizza restaurants. (8)
Fast Food places. (17)
Starbucks.
Dairy Queen. (6)
Hardee’s.
McDonald’s restaurant. (34)
Burger King. (14)
Fazoli’s.
Wendy’s. (9)
No Wendys. (2)
Long John Silver’s.
Papa John’s.
KFC. (7)
Rally’s.
Taco Bell. (21)
Arby’s. (10)
Krispy Kreme. (3)
Subway. (7)
More chain restaurants. (3)
Chuck E. Cheese’s. (10)
Waffle House. (2)
Longhorn Steakhouse.
Applebee’s.
Golden Corral. (4)
Gatti-Town. (19)
O’Charley’s. (3)
Chili’s.
Cracker Barrel. (4)
Hooter’s. (5)
Outback Steakhouse. (2)
Ponderosa.
More Grocery Stores. (9)
Kroger. (8)
Save-A-Lot. (4)
Meijer.
A daycare.
A Vet. (2)
Gas stations. (12)
Banks
The gas would be cheaper. (8)
A mall/shopping center. (161)
A mini-mall somewhat like Wal-mart.
An outlet mall. (2)

Recreation/Entertainment

Boat driving school for kids.
Place to ride bikes. (17)
I want to be able to ride my bike to school.
Ride my bike on the roads.
Dance classes.
"Adult" entertainment.
Bars. (6)
A bigger pool room. (3)
Theme/Amusement parks. (73)
Water parks. (78)
Movie Theater. (159)
Drive-in. (5)
Music park.
Concerts in Owen County.
Fishing. (8)
I would like Owen County to have Game Boy events.
Speedway.
Arena/Coliseum. (4)
An arena for concerts.
Aquarium. (11)
Dance club. (4)
Night club.
Clubs. (3)
Chess club.
Skateboard club.
Clubhouses.
A club for people to hang out at. (6)
A pavilion. (5)
Shooting range.
Mini-Golf. (6)
Teen Dance Floors. (2)
Museums. (11)
Zoo. (41)
Petting zoo. (8)
Arcade. (42)
Game room. (2)
Bowling alley. (103)
Paintball. (8)
Skate [boarding] park. (97)
[Roller] Skating rink. (96)
Ice skating. (6)
A Rodeo.
I would want Owen County to have a lot more truck and tractor pulls.
Dirt bike track. (5)
A big park for dirt bikes and bikes. (10)
Racecar track. (3)
Motocross track. (8)
Go-cart track. (6)
Four wheeler shop. (6)
I would like to go and pay a payment for my four wheeler in Owen County.
Four wheeler race track. (9)
Have a four wheeler park. (2)
ATV’s allowed on the road.
Drag strip. (6)
YMCA. (16)
A big recreation center. (6)
Swim. (4)
Swimming pool. (66)
Public pool. (40)
Indoor pool. (12)
A huge trampoline. (3)
Better fairgrounds. (8)
Rollercoaster at fairgrounds.
Laser tag. (12)
Bumper cars. (2)

Schools/education

New public schools. (2)
A new middle school. (6)
New elementary school. (8)
New schools. (16)
Better schools. (17)
Better education. (2)
Remodel the schools. (5)
More scholarships and more school funds.
More money for the schools. (2)
After school tutoring.
Elementary school with walls and doors. (6)
All male and all female schools.
More related arts activities.
More field trips. (2)
More teachers.
Laptops in each school and library.
A technical school.
Better food. (11)
Cleaner schools. (2)
School for bad kids.
School for mentally challenged kids.
Shorter school days.

New sports equipment for schools.
Put pools in schools and school systems to have a dance team.
Football games.
Football field/stadium. (6)
Baseball field. (4)
Better baseball field. (3)
Basketball arena/court. (7)
Better soccer field. (3)
Gymnastics. (3)
Wrestling
More sports teams. (4)
Volleyball

A College. (7)

Clean community

No junk in yards. (7)
I would want to get a group together and clean up our community because if we’re going to live in it we might as well clean it up because when we were little we were told to clean our room well now our community is like our room.
No pollution/No trash on the street/cleaner/nicer looking. (22)
Put dumpsters around Owen County to help keep clean.
Cleaner air. (2)
Have a better trailer park.
Less old junky buildings (tear them down). (4)

Preserve/protect farming, the land, the environment

More land. (6)
I would still like to have lots of farm land so I could still have a farm
Better land.
I would want the farms and trees not to be taken out. I want it to stay out in the county.
A little more farmland.
I would want to hunt. (2)
I would want to be able to hunt all year long.
More farms for hunting, like bird (Pheasants and Quail) farms. (2)
More trees. (7)
Some more woods. (4)
Plants and flowers.
I think we will be able to ride horses and carts again. I think this will happen because one day this world is going to run out of oil and other natural resources.

Characteristics of the community

Friendly/nice/better people. (4)
I think Owen County is perfectly fine the way it is. I don’t want the population any bigger or smaller. I like the small town environment that is here and I believe it should stay. (2)
I want Owen County to stay basically the same. I really enjoy the small sense of community Owenton expresses.
Make Owen County a better place to live in and to have a great school. Make better friends and a better world to live.

Unique identity of Owen Co maintained

I don’t want Owen County to be like other counties.
The farmers/farms would still be here. (3)

Smaller community/stay the same

A small place
Not to have buildings and malls.
Not a boom town. No loud noises.
I like Owen County. Owen County is awesome. (4)
Not too much development.
No trailer parks. (2)
I want it to be the same. (17)

Bigger community

A city. (7)
Everything it has today except a few more people. (5)
A more diverse population in Owen County. (3)
To be like Frankfort. (3)
Full of people. (2)
Bigger and recognized more.
I want Owen County to look like the nice part of Florence. (2)
Be like Cincinnati.(2)
I wish Owen County was the biggest state.
Owen County attracts more people, has a greater pull.
I imagine Owen County being more city-like.
Bigger towns.
Make it bigger. (7)
More houses. (16)
No more farms.
Mechanical houses
The school would be bigger because of all the people moving into Owen County.

Interpersonal relationships

Everyone gets along. (4)
Have more time to communicate with our friends. To have more choices, like to be able to make up rules to be equal with choice.
I would like it to be like a town where everything is not just decided by your name. Where if you are a rich person you don’t get treated very well.
Your name shouldn’t matter.
Whatever you wanted except law breaking. I’d want it to look like the perfect place where people and animals live in harmony.
Help the homeless and give money to charity.
No more mean people.
Less people from Ohio.

Vision for personal lives

We would have kids like us and probably be married.
I would like a good wife.
My granny will have longer to live.
I would like a big house and have two kids. Also a big apartment with a big, huge lake in front of it and just sit and watch the clouds go by. A big, huge workshop where everyone goes.

Religion/churches

More Christian Churches. (4)
A big huge mechanical church so that people would come to church and learn about Jesus.

Won’t be here

I don’t care I won’t be here. (3)
I don’t really care because I go to other places to do things.

Transportation

An interstate/highway. (3)
More/better roads. (38)
Finished roads. (4)
A train/train station. (5)
An airport. (3)
A county bus. (2)
A rest stop. (3)
Bigger bridges on the county roads for when it floods.
Slow down of the roads more.
Taxi service.
Transportation for the elderly.
I don’t want to hear cars. (2)

Infrastructure

Better hospital. (7)
Better hospital parking lot.
More clinics.

Bigger/Better library. (10)
More Parks/State Park. (66)
Trails.
More lakes. (7)
Better/new playground. (19)

Animal shelter. (11)

History museum of Owen County. (2)
A national monument.

More/better sidewalks. (3)
More sidewalks in the county so that those in the country can walk or ride bikes to school. (3)

City water to everyone/work on the water lines. (2)

Public high-speed internet for the whole county because internet costs for individuals is becoming too expensive.
Tons of high tech things.
I want Owen County to be digitalized/all wireless electronics. (2)

Safety/CrimeDrugs

Take all the drugs and everything illegal out of the county.
Ban cigarettes. (3)
I would want to be able to feel safe. (5)
No drugs. (9)
A missing children’s program.
Less criminals.
Bigger jail for criminals.
SWAT team.
Less fires.
No theft. (2)
A safe place for children to play and hang out.
Safe places. Walk the streets without kidnappers. (2)
A special place to go when depressed.
Owen County needs to be a safe environment. Parents don’t consider Owen County safe, my parents won’t let me go to town and hang out with my friends because they’re afraid of people these days.
I would want to be able to go out to places without getting bullied around.
I would want Owen County to have better security.
Bigger police department. (4)
Bigger fire department.

Animal-related comments

More animals.
All dogs should be on leashes.
More kittens.

Other Responses

I wouldn’t want to be able to go to the gun course.
An amazing Christmas.
New clothes.
Mechanical bull riding.
Free tobacco outlets.
Mandatory ice cream, pizza, steak, and veggies lunch.
Have a license to live in a mansion so we don’t have to pay money.
Flying cars, trucks, people, movies, dogs, cats, objects.
More cute boys- not old ones. (2)
Talking car.
Robot teachers.
Robots. (2)
To drive underage.
Use horses instead of cars.
Hover cars. (7)
Solar power cars.
I would like to have a small militia force in case criminals escape prison somehow and come to Owen County and start a gun fight.
A four wheeler track in the middle of town.
Jungle for monkeys.
I would like the old Model 30’s cars.
No cows in the road. (2)
Everyone in Owen County can fly.
I want it to be all rednecks and rebel flags everywhere.
Bikes that float in the air.
I wish I had 1,999 children.
Cure for sickness.
No smoking signs everywhere
Cars and detective.

CHANGE If you had a magic wand, how would you make Owen County better today?

Youth and family recreation and entertainment

I would put us a recreational place to go so kids could have fun and stay out of trouble.
We need more hangouts, more places for kids. (19)
I would make it a more fun place. There would always be something to do in Owen County. (19)
I would make more places to participate. (2)
Places like bowling alley, movies, stadium for kids to go and do things at.
Some fun stuff for teens to do. (5)
More places for kids to hang out with friends. (3)
More places for activities. (4)
More family places.
More things to do near homes.
I would make Owen County a fun place where people like coming to visit. (2)
Turn IGA into a laser tag place.
Laser tag.
Paintball field. (2)
Have a better fair grounds. (5)
I would want to have a Tobacco Festival at the Fairgrounds during the spring time.
Casino. (2)
Dave and Buster’s.
Skate park. (14)
Roller skate rink. (7)
Skate shop. (3)
More places to be active like bike places. (4)
Monster truck track. (4)
Muscle car shows. (2)
Zoo. (4)
Bigger basketball court at fairgrounds.
Movie theater. (17)
Bowling alley. (11)
Golf.
Arcade. (7)
A theme/amusement park. (19)
Water park. (13)
Animal shelter. (10)
YMCA. (2)
Bigger playground. (3)
Gym. (5)
Public youth center. (4)
Swimming/Public pool. (9)
Drag track. (2)
A club. (3)
Dance clubs. (3)
A basketball arena and a pro team.
Arena/coliseum.
Stadium. (2)
Public swimming pools. (3)
Indoor swimming pool.
A better park. (3)
More parks. (12)
Have public ATV trails to ride on.

Business and economic development

More factories for more jobs.
Better jobs. (10)
Nice place to work and have a small nice business office.
More jobs. (27)
Everyone had a job.
To work where my mom works.
Another game warden.
Better economy. (4)
Less pollution, more industry.
I would give Owen County a lot more money. (22)
I would build lots of restaurants and fun places to do so Owen County could have more money.
Jobs for people and stores that would give a break to the unwealthy
Have more churches/more people going to church. (15)
New clothes design. (4)
I would keep big stores and fast food away from Owen County.
Programs for unemployed people.
Bars. (4)
A mall. (36)
Pet store. (3)
People have to drive out of the county just to get stuff for their pets
A liquor store.
More restaurants/more restaurant variety. (48)
Drive through restaurants.
More fast food. (6)
Less pizza. (9)
McDonald’s. (5)
Cracker Barrel.
Burger King.
Taco Bell. (3)
Papa John’s
Gatti-town. (4)
White Castle. (3)
Wendy’s (3)
Better food. (2)
More stores. (48)
Shoe store. (6)
Nike Store.
Movie/video stores. (5)
Sam Goody’s.
Spencer’s.
Hot Topic.
Wal-mart. (28)
Kroger. (5)
Save-a-lot.
Target. (2)
Big Lots. (2)
Ford Car/Truck store.
Bike shop.
Pet Store. (4)
K-Mart. (3)
A good carwash.
A Vet. (5)
Gas Station.
Limited Too. (4)
Lowe’s.
A pharmacy.
Video game store.
More up to date shops. (2)
More businesses. (8)
Improve banks.
More/better businesses. (7)
Toyota.
More banks.
More factories.
More industry.
Increase Owen County’s industry without wiping out land.
The McDonald’s next to Payne would be open.
Car dealerships. (2)
A Mitsubishi car dealership.

Schools/education issues

GED classes for adults. (2)
Change the school semester make it more fun and easier to learn.
I would make school start at 9am and end at 5pm that way I’m more awake for school in Owen County.
The middle school leaks and it’s too small. (3)
New middle school. (8)
Better school activities.
More/better teachers. (5)
Better books/supplies for schools. (6)
Fun/more field trips. (9)
More libraries or new library. (7)
Bigger library. (7)
Better buses.
More/Better schools. (70)
Nicer schools so that it’s easier to concentrate.
Make schools a safer environment.
Better education. (10)
Let everybody go to school and college and work somewhere and never drop out.
Kids reading and kids doing their homework and doing what they’re told.
A university so we didn’t have to leave the county and go so far away.
Make people smarter.
No school dropouts. (3)
Walls in elementary school. (12)
I would give Owen County more money for a better education. (6)
A band room for the middle school so we don’t have to go to high school. (2)
More school spirit.
More band supporters. (3)
More science classes. (2)
Make the school lunches better. (7)
A college. (12)

More sports teams. (9)
Girl’s football
Volleyball.
Soccer.
Basketball court. (5)
Soccer field.
More baseball fields

Poverty and low income issues

Help people not be poor/less poverty. (5)
Lower food prices. (2)
Lower gas prices so parents and teens will be able to do something. (24)
A good home for the homeless. (9)
Giving food to people who can’t afford it. (6)
To not be poor.
Lower taxes. (3)
Prices lower/cheaper. (10)
More Medicare places. (3)

Give more money to helping organizations.
Support the county by just being a good citizen
Homeless shelter. (2)
More shelters

Preserve land/environment

Less truck pollution. (2)
Fresher air. (3)
Cars that do not run on gas/electric cars. (2)
No cutting down trees.
More trees/Plant trees. (15)
I would tell people to stop wasting stuff.
Better environment. (11)
Longer deer and turkey season.
Preserve wildlife.
More wild animals/wildlife. (11)
Plant flowers. (3)
More trees. (5)
More herbs. (4)
More deer.
I would put lots of land, woods, and deer back. (3)
More forests in many of the wide-open areas that nobody is using.
I would clean all the water. (4)

Clean up/restore community

More recycling.
No pollution/Make it cleaner/clean up trash. (151)
Get rid of graffiti.
I would wish for a New County and/or clean up.
I would restore old buildings and reuse them for new purposes. (11)
I want the broken brown signs to go.
Restore historical graveyards. (2)
Make the buildings look better. (4)
I would get rid of all the old homes and building not being used(i.e. High school). (8)
Clocktower on the courthouse.
New trailers for the trailer park. (3)
Apartments instead of mobile homes.

Small /rural community

Less people.
Less people, more houses
Owen County is a rural county and should stay that way. Only minor improvements should take place.
More farms. (2)
More horse farms and stables. (2)
Make it ? for better farming.

Bigger community

Make it look like Carrollton
More people living in Owen County. (3)
More people. (3)
I would make it as big as Frankfort with all the same things.
For the town to expand.
Make it [Owen County] bigger. (37)
Make a big city.

Housing issues

A good house for everyone to live in.
A big mansion.
New houses. (2)
More building space. (2)
Nicer/better homes. (12)
No more houses being built.
More land to build things on.
Cheaper houses.
I would make bigger and better homes. (15)
No zoning.
No subdivisions. (2)
More subdivisions.

Keep it as it is

You can’t make it better
I wouldn’t. I would keep it how it is. (6)
I wouldn’t change anything Owen County is doing fine. (2)

Better way of life

No racism/discrimination. (2)
Peace. (5)
Everyone would get along. (7)
Better people. (12)
I would make Owen County similar to where celebrities live.
Make all the people who are sick better. (6)
Give out Bibles to everyone that needs them.
I would build anything people wanted! Do things to make people happy.
Make snakes disappear.
No people smoking. (6)
Make life easier. (7)
Because people would think a lot more about us and we won’t be all trashy and people would have more fun things to do and be happier to know that their hometown is a great place to be and just be safe.
Everything fair.
Seeing people be happy. (2)
Better community. (6)
People nice to each other. (12)
Not a dry county. (2)
Make adults pay more attention to their kids.
Bullies would be nice to people.
More historical landmarks.

Transportation/infrastructure

To legally drive ATV’s on the road. (7)
New roads, straighter roads. (6)
Wider roads. (5)
Finishing the new road. (23)
Better roads. (89)
Better sidewalks. (7)
Put down more concrete.
More highways. (2)
New roads that lead to Frankfort.
Fill potholes. (4)
Driver’s Ed classes.
More rest stops
Easier/More Transportation. (4)
Taxi.

Running water for everyone in Owen County.
Better water system.
Affordable internet access.
A garbage company to pick up all the garbage
More ambulances
More and better hospitals so people won’t have to go out of town. (13)

Safety/crime/drugs

A crime free place. (14)
No more potheads.
Most of all safe. Owen County needs to be worth seeing. (5)
I would control bad people. Help them out. (3)
Drug Rehab Clinic.
New jail. (3)
No more qiters [quitters].
No more kidnappers. (4)
No more drunk drivers. (2)
No drugs, no beer, and no bad guys.
Lower crime rate. (3)
No more murder. (9)
Check to make sure no one brings drugs to school.
More security. (8)
No felons. (3)
No more drugs. (40)
More/better law enforcement. (14)
No alcohol, cigarettes, tobacco, drugs. (16)
I would take all the weapons and drugs off the streets.
No more cigarettes. (20)
I would make it able to sell tobacco to minors, and you can get your permit at 15.
Kids would not smoke pot and drink.
No violence. (10)
Wear seatbelts.
Take out the drug store.
Better alarms in banks. (2)
Better courthouse. (2)
New jail closer.
Keep kids from joining gangs.
No alcohol. (4)
No abuse.

Animal control

Animal Shelter. (8)
No loose dogs.
No dog pounds.
Pet adoption agency. (3)

Other comments

Change the law.
Get rid of salons.
No more jerks who kill deer! (2)
An ocean and a beach. (10)
Take some of the rocks out of the ground.
UK Wildcats basketball team to come to Owen County.
I would save people.
By helping people walk across the street.
No cussing. (4)
I would have less hills.
A carnival every weekend for the old and young.
Machines that helps old people do a lot of things.
I change everything to be better than what it is now.
Less cats.
More pets.
No more leaky roofs.
To make the workers rebuild KY.
Make it so people could have whatever they wanted.
I would get every boy a dirt bike.
I don’t know. (2)
Make my enemies frogs and protect Owen County from bad people all kinds of them.
Raining olives to eat.
Have horse ride buggy rides. Big Pizza Rolls. Big 1,000 room pizza house. A giant theater, with free popcorn. Thousand dollars free.
I would leave.
Less work.
Change everything here now. (2)
I would blow up the trailer park.
Put up security walls around the county. (2)
Lower prices on toys and candy.
Make an army base then blow up ? [unreadable].
Make a mall bigger than Owen County.
More tanks/bazookas in case people try to blow us up.
A big mansion for all the animals to live in.
Solar powered factories.
Electric password doors.
Flying cars. (5)
Jungle.
Turn everybody into frogs.
I would pick it [Owen County] up and make it the island of "Owenahua", in the South Pacific.
I would change the laws. It [Owen County] would have to be filled with rednecks and nobody else. Have houses that didn’t cost as much. Our state flag would be a rebel flag. Have no vehicles except mud trucks, mud runners. There would be no laws so you could go as fast as you want and nothing would happen to you or get arrested.
Spy cars. (2)
Everybody could play with the sun without getting hurt.
Floating houses. (2)
Make a small town for kids in Owen County. And free ice cream.
Bigger 4H office.
A town square.
Castles.
A pretty pond for ducks to be fed.
Cheaper cars. (5)