Census wants to know how happy SOMERVILLE, Mass is and in April 30, 2011 a survey was given. In that survey people were asked to rate their happiness from a 1-10 then asked why did they choose that particular number. It soon came to the ideas that if the town wasn’t happy, what was the caused of its unhappiness. One particular person wrote, “I would like to be three inches taller and speak Quechua fluently.” He rate his happiness a 6. The survey was very broad, it wasn’t just one specific thing it had peoples problem from the govern body of the town to a persons learning skills. Mr. Curtatone said, “Cities Keep carful track of their finances, a bond rating doesn’t tell us how people fell…” Not everyone was one board with the idea of a survey determining how the city or town should be made or build. Through the reading I cant really say if it was dumb or smart, it was interesting, the concept of basing the town with how happy the people were was an interesting thought. I would have loved to be apart of such a group if I lived in that town.

The article is about giving surveys to residents in Somerville, massachusetts asking them how happy they are on a scale of one to ten. About more than 7,500 people have done the survey. One man gave himself six out of ten based on how happy he is. he said “I would like to be three inches taller and speak Quechua fluently.” There were other questions asked like “should we build more park or highway? Should workers get longer coffee breaks or more vacation days?” these questioned were asked if it would make the residents happier.

In Somerville people filled out city census, this time people got new question on the topic of ‘How happy do you feel right now?’ They want to know what would make the people happy. More than 7,500 people mail back the survey; most of them didn’t really answer the question. Dr. Gilbert said they need more people to speak out and tell them what they need to improve. Dr. Gilbert said Somerville needs more park or highways. Workers should get longer coffee break or more vacation days. Vanessa Lagerman who lived in Somerville for six year said they are changing the city to become a better place now they have bike lanes. This is making people happier. Conor Brennan said he happy about the city attention they care about people happiness. They want Somerville to become a better place for people to live. Dr. Gilberts said adding new question to the survey was a good idea now they could find out what would make the people happy. Most people in Somerville are satisfied in the environment. “Other residents also said they felt flattered by the city’s attention.” This means other city are motivate of how the city Somerville support people idea. Somerville is a city that cares about people happiness.

Revision on 9/12/13

The city Somerville people filled out city census, this time people got new question on the topic of ‘How happy do you feel right now?’ They want to know what would make the people happy. More than 7,500 people mail back the survey; most of them didn’t really answer the question. Dr. Gilbert said Somerville needs more park or highways. Workers should get longer coffee break or more vacation days. Vanessa Lagerman who lived in Somerville for six years said they are changing the city to become a better place now they have bike lanes. Conor Brennan said he happy about the city attention they care about the people happiness. Most people in Somerville are satisfied in the environment. Other city are motivate of how the city Somerville support people idea. By doing this city census they would find out how happy people feel.

Reflection

In my new summary I change many things I made it shorter because I gave to much information that wasn’t necessary. I move some sentence that was my option because in a summary is not about what you think, it about the main point the author is trying to develop in the story

John Tierney New york  times article titled “How Happy are you? A Census Wants to Know”,  discusses  how Somerville  a city in Massachusetts filled out a survey given by officials in Boston who wanted to evolve pass the traditional measures of success  and economic growth  so that they can encourage  new polices they can put to play to promote more than just the materialistic being of the community. As stated in the article “Somerville used to be renowned for crime and nicknamed “Slummerville,” …..”  Taking that into consideration many the citizens there  made sure they participated in  this survey test taking  it was noted that “more than 7,500 people have mailed back the survey, some of them clearly not limiting their answers to municipal concerns.” As a result the mayor  was greatly pleased with this survey it allowed him to the mindsets of his Citizens and what policies he needed to get to bring improvement to the community. The survey asked questions like “to rate the nuts-and-bolts aspects of their communities — the police, the schools, the availability of affordable housing — as well as the “beauty or physical setting” of Somerville, an industrial town full of triple-decker houses. The city wants to know: “Taking everything into account, how satisfied are you with Somerville as a place to live?”……” and so forth  therefore showing that they truly cared for the opinion of the people which in they end flattered residents by the cities attention thus encourage more positive attitude from the citys people.

The How Happy Are You article is about the people of Summerville, Massachusetts expressing through a survey, how happy they are with their lives as well as how they feel about the schools in the area,  the affordability of houses and etc. in their own neighborhoods. This survey was taken in the spring of 2011 and approximately 7,500 residents returned their surveys. One man responded to the survey by saying his rate of his own happiness was a six because he wanted to learn to speak fluently in Quechua and be three inches taller. A woman named Vanessa Langerman said that she agreed with the survey because it is important to accommodate people’s needs and feelings about the things they wanted to change or improve about their lives or the way that they are living. Langerman wasn’t the only resident who felt good about the survey, but  other people did as well because they felt like it was good that the city was actually listening to the concerns of the people and were willing to change some things to help residents feel better and live a little better. Summerville officials hope to continue the survey over a longer period of time and compare theirs to other surveys in other towns that are close to them.

[Revision for Th 9/12]

The article “How Happy Are You? A Census Wants To Know” by John Tierney, is about the residents of Somerville, Massachusetts who express their happiness and feelings about their neighborhood in a survey. The survey is answered by a sample of 76,000 people who are asked questions about how happy they are with their lives at this very moment. In the survey people are also asked to rate the schools in the area, how easy it is to live in the area, the efficiency of the police force and etc. People respond by rating their happiness from a range from one to ten and also list some things they like and dislike about Somerville. Others respond by sharing things they want to change about themselves. The city officials are hoping to gain knowledge about the things people want to change or improve and track their residents’ happiness and compare them to neighboring communities.

Reflection

I wanted to revise my summary because I learned in class that some of the details that I was including in my summary weren’t necessary. I was also not speaking in present tense, but past tense because of the date of the article. I also learned my thesis statement is suppose to include the title of the article and the author’s name.