Do you Love or Hate Luton?
The overall result from our survey finds Luton people love the town and the main reason for living in Luton is because of their family, home and work. It is not surprising that “The People” of Luton is the main reason for liking the community. The local history, diversity of ethnicity and the community are some of the other reasons given by the people for liking their community.
Local council and politicians can help to change the views of ordinary people living in this town by converting more people from “I Can tolerate” or “I Like” to “I love” Luton. The people who don’t like or hate Luton, they may be harder to convince but as a community if we do not try to understand why, these voices of concern can lead to divisions in the community.
Politics has always been a dirty word within local communities and the fact that Luton people see this as a reason for disliking the community is not surprising. Our local politicians and community leaders need to take note and think about how they engage with the community and what they need to do to improve their image and how they are perceived.
Diversity of ethnicity came out second main reason for disliking the community. However 
there are some differences of opinion as this is also given by many people as their reason for liking the community. This is further complicated by more people considering the “Community” and “The People” as the reasons they most like about their community. Analysing and cross checking the responses there are more people liking their community because of the people and the community than disliking. Luton having a diverse community and mix of ethnic groups can create divisions but if we all work together and find a common identity of loving Luton we can create harmony and community cohesion.
Neighbourhood safety is a key concern for Luton people and our local Police and Police Commissioner needs to take note of this concern and address any policing issues affecting the local community. Luton people want to see more jobs and police services in the town. However the last referendum to increase police budget was rejected by local community and this means local people want more police service for the same cost or more efficient policing.
Luton has one of the highest numbers of people claiming benefits and reducing unemployment is a key concern of local people. Reading between the lines, less diversity of people and places of worship are other areas of concerns and suggests people of Luton are not happy with the mix of community and integration of people. In order to address these concerns community leaders need to look at the way the community interacts with each other and find new ways of building bridges between communities.