How's the quality of life in your community? Is your community thriving, or merely surviving? Some people think quality of life is determined by the employment rate. Some believe outdoor recreation is the key. Others say it's about the arts, or public safety, or access to health care.

Whatever "quality of life" means, does your community have a good enough supply of it to attract new citizens with varying interests, retain its existing citizens, and inspire them all?

CIEL's Community Vitality Initiative (CVI) measures community leaders' and citizens' perceptions about the quality of life in their community and compares the scores to those from other communities using a unique graphic index (the Community Vitality Index). 

Download the Guide to Community Vitality

Table of Contents

Introduction
B. What Is Community Vitality?
C. What Influences the Vitality of a Community?
D. Indicators of Community Vitality
E. The CVI’s 97 Indicators: Origins and Rationale
   1. Personal and Economic Security
   2. Life-Long Learning
   3. Wellness
   4. Leadership, Teamwork, and Networking
   5. Environment
   6. Arts and Culture
   7. Sense of Community
   8. Community Entrepreneurship and Innovation
   9. Physical Space
F. Additional CVI Survey Questions and Indicators
   Open-Ended Questions
   Statistics
G. Select Bibliography
H. Annotated Bibliography
   Canadian Sources
   International Sources
   Other Documents and Articles
I. More About the CVI
J. Sample Section from CVI Assessment Report
K. Advisory Committee (2005-2007) CVI
N. About CIEL
O. About the Authors