Editor’s note: This article was edited at 10 a.m. Friday to reflect two assets that were accidentally omitted by forum organizers as the list was compiled.

Here are the top answers to four questions on the community forum survey, which 114 people completed. They are listed in order of votes received.

• Interstate 85
• Four colleges with a variety of quality of institutions
• Thriving downtown
• Fibrant
• Being between Charlotte, Raleigh. Between three major metros
• Access to water and sewer
• Location
• Rowan County Airport
• Arts
• Quality of life
• Cultural assets, performing visuals
• Tourism and attractions like Dan Nicholas Park, N.C. Transportation Museum, Lazy 5, Spencer Woods, etc.
• Workforce training
• Historic preservation
• Education
• Available workforce
• Economic Development Commission
• Diverse range of affordable property
• Small town, family feel
• Great natural resources
• Farming and agriculture
• Invest in education
• Collaboration, cooperation and vision for entire county and municipalities
• County commissioners who embrace change
• Encourage all youth to reach their full potential in education. regardless of whether it is vocational or college prep
• Implement programs that get all children reading by grade 3
• Behavior of leadership needs to be positive. Elected leaders need to project a unified front — that we are moving forward in a positive direction
• Community-wide leadership coordination to implement this strategic plan
• Revitalize/repurpose existing buildings
• Programs that begin to bring people out of poverty
• Branding and marketing — we are not known enough
• Small business loans
• Empower people to work
• Investments and improvements in downtown
• Develop a positive public image
• Encourage entrepreneurship
• Become more business-friendly in permitting and welcoming new businesses
• Recognize that poverty is a county-wide problem
• New exits on I-85 in southern Rowan County
• Develop more mixed use areas that include live/work/shop/entertainment uses within walking distance for residents
• Promote positive community news and accomplishments
• Fighting between elected/government officials/municipalities
• Looking at our community as “county” and “city”
• Looking at things as “costs” instead of “investments”
• Cutting funding for education initiatives
• Minimally investing in our school system
• Thinking we don’t need economic incentives to create jobs
• Allowing the power of the negative to dictate our future
• Divisiveness
• Moving county government from downtown
• Underfunding things that work
• Ignoring rising poverty
• Crime and poverty
• Making critical decisions without engaging citizens
• Isolating Rowan County, which needs to be part of collaborative organizations
• Voter apathy
• Impeding school progress
• Being exclusive/uninviting to business
• Putting handcuffs on economic development
• Resisting change
• Local media needs to stop negative drumbeat
• Improve K-12 education
• Downtown revitalization and expand it to other communities
• Focus on education
• Efforts to make Salisbury-Rowan County a destination
• Have events like this throughout the county
• Grow collaboration
• Incentives for new business and grow new businesses
• To develop downtown Salisbury as the economic, cultural and governmental core of the county
• Promote downtown living and incentivize downtown residential
• To partner with colleges, health care, schools, city and county government to do more
• Arts, Salisbury Symphony, Waterworks — all the various arts programs in the area
• The Thread Trail
• Historic preservation
• RCCC, higher education meeting the needs of our community
• Leverage Fibrant: promote, invest, improve and expand services to businesses and multifamily property
• Seek participation of leaders from all of our municipalities and county
• Novant’s health initiative
• Make starting and building a business here easier
• Crosby Scholars program
• Invite people to become involved in their community issues
• Excellence in birth-12 education
• Known as a community that works together to achieve common goals
• Be a place where our kids want to return to work, live and raise a family
• Become a place that attracts industry, young people, educated people, housing and culture
• Known as a hub for economic development, low poverty and high quality of life
• One of the top communities to raise a family
• Known for being progressive and a community of opportunity
• Collaboration
• Focus and push education at all levels
• Destination of choice for prime economic development and community talent
• The community that embraces change and celebrates diversity
• Be a model for education in our region
• Be known as a place that cherishes its children with access to superior schools, unique parks, arts and a healthy approach to living and growing
• Develop a reputation to be the most desirable place to live, work, recreate and shop
• Be a hub for multiple arts festivals featuring our community theater, music, etc. as well as talent from the colleges
• Known as an incubator for jobs and culture
• Known as an arts destination
• Be one of the places that Ed McMahon shows on his slides as a community that grew by great strides by being forward-thinking and planning our development
• Known for innovative leadership
• Be a great place to move your company