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HomeMy WebLinkAbout6A Jan 2014 Community Survey - REMOVED O1 PRI°4) U 4646 Dakota Street SE Prior Lake. MN 55372 4t sor CITY COUNCIL AGENDA REPORT MEETING DATE: May 27, 2014 AGENDA #: 6A PREPARED BY: Frank Boyles, City Manager PRESENTED BY: Dr. Bill Morris AGENDA ITEM: PRESENTATION OF JANUARY 2014 COMMUNITY SURVEY DISCUSSION: Introduction The purpose of this agenda item is to receive the full report regarding the January 2014 Community Survey from Dr. Bill Morris and Mr. Peter Leatherman. History The community survey is one of our only sources of objective data to measure citizen perceptions of the many services we deliver. In 2011, a very similar survey was administered to 400 households selected using random sampling techniques to increase the likelihood that the survey results can be projected to represent the answers we would receive if all 24,000 people in Prior Lake were surveyed. At the April 22, 2014 visioning session, Dr. Morris presented the 2014 survey results concentrating on general themes and comparing the results of this year's survey to those of 2011. A copy of the survey together with a transcription of Dr. Morris' comments from the session are attached for Council information. Current Circumstances The community survey results were shared with the 120 shareholders that attended the visioning session to help facilitate that effort. For this evening's presentation, we have asked Dr. Morris to give the complete presentation rather than a summary. Therefore, some of the information the City Council will receive tonight is duplicative, but for most residents the information will be completely new, as the survey results have not yet received significant media attention. We have also asked Dr. Morris to focus on some specific points. His report revealed that in certain areas, Prior Lake continues to improve relative to other communities. Without naming names, Dr. Morris has been asked to be more specific about the criteria that is used in each case to compare communities. Phone 952.447.9800 / Fax 952.447.4245 / www.cityofpriorlake.com We also asked Dr. Morris to point out those areas in the results that suggest that we need to give greater attention to services we provide or perceptions about the city Conclusion In addition to providing citizens with a more complete review of the survey results, this presentation is intended to offer councilors another opportunity to ask questions they may have. ISSUES: Tonight's presentation is intended to allow councilors the opportunity to ask Dr. Morris questions about the survey which may be of concern to them. Pretty much any question is fair game ranging from process, results, validity and method of reporting. FINANCIAL Unless the city council is seeking considerable additional work, the cost for IMPACT: this presentation is also included in the fees already paid. ALTERNATIVES: A motion and second to: 1. Accept the report as presented. 2. Direct that additional information be prepared recognizing that there could be a corresponding additional cost. RECOMMENDED As determined by the city council. MOTION: Dr. Bill Morris Residential Survey Comments The Morris Leatherman Company 4/22/14 2040 Vision Meeting Well, first it’s a pleasure to be here with you to talk about the highlights from the current survey that we undertook for the City of Prior Lake. Just to go through the methodology very, very quickly, we spoke with 400 randomly selected households across the community. The average amount of time that a resident spent with us was 29 minutes. Although, we did have 45 residents who stayed on the phone with us for over one hour - by their choice. The percent of households that were on cell phone only – that was the only means of contacting them – was 27%. Moreover, we were able to – after a little bit of persuasion – get very, very good coverage there. The non-response rate was a very, very small 3.5%. Keep in mind that for the Minnesota poll, the non-response rate is 35%. People here really did want to talk about city issues and their concerns and also what they like. The surveys were conducted during late January and early February. We did look at the updated census statistics for the community and found that on those questions that we asked – demographic questions – we were within plus or minus 5% on every one of them. That also is if we are going to project to the entire population, we are within plus or minus 5% in 95/100 cases. I have to add, 95/100 cases because in statistics, nothing is certain. However, we do feel we had a good representation of the citizens across the community. Let’s begin first by taking a look at general quality of life. How do people feel about life in the city? What we found this time were some statistically significant changes. We have 95% who rated the quality of life positively – either excellent or good with only 5% being more critical. If we take a look at the excellent ratings, that was a significant jump from 30% to 40%. This puts the city in comparison with other suburban communities across the metropolitan area within the top 10% of communities. So, a very, very strong favorable rating an overwhelming majority of your residents. 1 Now, that is what we call an icebreaker question. We then started asking questions that required some thought, that is, we didn’t provide people with acceptable answers. It wasn’t “excellent”, “good”, “only Like Most about City fair”, “poor” – it wasn’t “Please rate this on a scale of 1 to 10”; here, it was “What’s at the top of your mind?” A nd so, one question we asked – and we’ve asked this since 2005 – is “What do you like most about the city? What comes to mind?” And you can see that over time, there are certain things that developed trends. So, “small town feel” is still the leader. It’s moved down a bit – dropped 3% from 2011 and dropped 9% from 2005 but it still is a key value for about 1/3 of your residents. But what took the place of that? We always want to find out where the changes are going and what we found was one of the big changes was first “quiet”. “Quiet” and “peacefulness” more than doubled from where it was three years ago. Again, looking back toward “small town feel”, it’s tied together but nevertheless, a more nuanced response to that query. If we go down the chart a bit more, “schools” have moved from 2% to 9%, a fourfold increase. 2014 City of Prior Lake Continuing on the same way, we’ve got “the lake” at 10%, fairly constant, “location”, which is what realtors always tell us “location, location, location”, “great location for everything I care about” – that’s not as important here as it was three years ago - that’s moved from 24% down to 14%. But by and large, the one theme that comes through for about a 40% block of residents is that small town ambience that characterizes the community. It’s still not looked at by many of those people as being a suburb – it really is considered by them to still hold onto the small town feelings that people consider to be so important. So, have you merged then as a suburban community? In some ways, yes. But attitudinally, there’s still a polarization – and that’s perhaps putting it too strongly. Development is important but by the same token, people don’t want to lose that small town spirit. Now, if we are going to ask people what they like most, we should ask what they like least – or what’s the most serious issue facing the community? As you can see in 2005, we had one that was a 35% growth – that’s now moved back to about 20% - a little bit of an uptick but nevertheless, it still is a fairly high concern – just not as intense as it was in the past. Taxes are a concern. Although, that’s moved from 27% down to 12%. You are one of the few communities that have shown that kind of a drop during the interim between 2011 and 2014. That’s not to say that taxes aren’t important – we are going 1 Unsure 1 0 2 18 Location 24 14 40 Small Town Feel 34 31 5 Quiet 6 14 2 Safe 5 2005 Study 4 3 2011 Study Schools 2 9 2014 Study 6 Neighborhood 7 7 16 Lake 10 10 4 People 7 8 3 Parks & Recreation 3 2 2 Scattered 2 2 01020304050 The Morris Leatherman Company to see that they are in a number of ways, but Most Serious Issue Community Ties nevertheless, in terms of being the “most serious issue” facing the community, that’s not the case anymore. It’s not as intense here as it is in a number of your neighboring communities. Going down further, traffic congestion – this is what my surveyors conducting the calls would call a “survey stoppers” – not only did those folks indicate traffic congestion, but they also told us exactly where the congestion was and in very, very detailed description, exactly what they thought about traffic congestion. Lack of commercial has been fairly static - coming in at just under 10%. However, by and large, again we are back with growth and taxes as being two of the key concerns – not necessarily in opposition to each other but have been there for a while and have continued to be something that people do consider to 2014 City of Prior Lake2014 City of Prior Lake be serious issues. Now, what about community ties? How have those evolved? We asked people, “What do you consider yourself to be closes to? Are you closest to the entire community? Are you closest to the neighborhood? Are you close to neither or are you close to both?” Very few people tell us both – that it’s equal. What we have though is that about 1/3 of your community, and that’s been fairly stable now, over the 8 past nine years feel ties to the Unsure entire city. When we take a 11 look at the demographics, Closest Ties those tend to be what we call the “settlers” – folks that have been here for over 20-25 years, but also newcomers, individuals that have moved here during the last five. “Neighborhood” was the selection of 18 almost 60%. Again, we are seeing this as a trend right across the metropolitan area, with more people thinking about themselves as members of a particular neighborhood – a subdivision rather than the city as a whole. What really makes you unique among other communities is the fact that you have about 3 Crime 3 2 34 7 Entire City 36 35 Growth 32 14 20 47 16 Neighborhood Taxes 53 27 12 59 12 Schools 17 10 Neither 4 11 7 2 City Services 0 0 1 Unsure 2005 Study 1 9 2005 Study Traffic 9 2 8 0 2011 Study City Government 2011 Study 0 Sense of Community 0 7 Lack Commercial 2014 Study 2014 Study 8 15 Excellent 9 14 2 25 Lack Industrial 3 4 63 Good 2 72 Street Maintenance 4 66 7 2 19 City Spending Only Fair 8 12 6 8 0 Downtown Feel 0 2 2 Poor 2 0 Drinking Water Quality 1 0 2 1 Unsure 1 Scattered 0 4 0 2 0510152025303540 020406080100 The Morris Leatherman CompanyThe Morris Leatherman Company 1/3 of the residents here who feel that they have a tie to the entire city. When we took a look in terms of where they lived, we were able to find out where they resided by precinct and we found out it was Most Important Aspect of Quality of Life Fixed or Improved for Future fairly equally divided among all the precincts. That is the specific “boosters” are scattered well; they’re not in one particular area, they’re not downtown, they’re not bordering upper Prior Lake, they are in fact across the community. That really does, we found, add to community strength over time. Now, what about the sense of community here? And this has been a change. We are at 91% who are saying that it’s excellent or good. You’ll notice this high degree of change in “excellent” ratings. That 25% is one of the highest ratings we have anywhere across the metropolitan area. So, “sense of community” has improved and it’s changed fairly dramatically in terms of what we are seeing elsewhere. On the other hand, we’ve got 9% who were saying it’s only “fair” 2014 City of Prior Lake 2014 City of Prior Lake or “poor”. Again, a very low mark. The norm on that across the metropolitan area is about 15%-20% indicating the community spirit, the sense of community, or what ties them to other people is not that great. Now, we did add four questions for planning purposes. The first of these asked residents what the most important aspect was when they thought about their quality of life in the City of Prior Lake. At this point we hadn’t talked about any real issues; again, we are in top-of-the-mind kinds of responses so we didn’t want to detail or force anybody at this point to think in a particular direction. “Safety” was number one at 30%, “sense of community” was number two at 18% and “quality of schools” at 15%. Safety means the feeling of safety; they want to feel safe in their neighborhoods and across the community. We could also go down to 11% coming in at “small town feel”. But the keys here for almost a majority was how safe is the community and also how connected are residents here. The safety issue is one that we see throughout the suburban area, the sense of community being this th important again is unique; that usually comes in 4 or th 5 on most community lists. We also asked, “What should be fixed or improved for the future that would improve your quality of life Lower Taxes15 here?” Twenty percent told us “nothing”; everything is Safety30 perfect here. That is quite a significant percentage of civic boosters. Now, two things did come in at 15%: 1) they would like to see lower taxes – where does that stand in comparison to other suburban communities? That’s coming in at about 30% in other suburban 4 Street Maintenance15 Sense of Community18 Less Growth13 Quality of Schools15 More Retail9 Small Town Feel11 City Spending7 Open Spaces/Nature9 More Restaurants4 Schools4 Quiet/Peaceful9 Downtown3 Lake3 Traffic Congestion2 Parks and Recreation3 Scattered4 Scattered2 Unsure4 Unsure1 Nothing20 05101520253035 0510152025 The Morris Leatherman Company The Morris Leatherman Company communities. 2) Street maintenance was also came in at 15% as a particular concern. We expected to see that after people got so detailed about traffic congestion. Less growth was mentioned by another Preserved for the FutureCurrently Missing 13% and then we dropped below the 10% threshold. But there are three things clearly that sufficient numbers of people are indicating that are important to them: lower taxes and street maintenance and let’s not grow too fast. Now, if we are asking what is to be fixed or improved for the future, we should ask what’s currently missing. What doesn’t the community have that could improve your quality of life. Again, two things come in at 15%: 1) more retail opportunities – not necessarily ‘big box’ stores but nevertheless more retail in general; and 2) more jobs; in particular head-of-household jobs but also part- time jobs. Those two responses are fairly typical of suburbs in the third and fourth rings across the metropolitan area. Just behind it though is a new one and that’s more entertainment. People would like more entertainment opportunities – things for people to be able to do within the community. And finally, if we are going to be specific, 8% which is a little bit lower than what we found in some of your 2014 City of Prior Lake2014 City of Prior Lake neighboring communities, we would like more restaurants. In particular, that was a plea for more ‘sit down’ restaurants if possible. But again, we have almost 40% this time who are saying there is nothing that’s currently missing; I like where we are and the task ahead is to just keep us where we are. The next question we asked was, “What should be preserved for the future?” Thirty percent said “open space and natural areas” were critical to the community and to the future. Fourteen percent said, “the lake”, 12% said “low crime/public safety” and 12% “small town feel”. Again, what we are seeing here is that through a number of questions, some important directions are beginning to emerge. “Open space/nature” – people want to see that preserved. Do they want more? Not necessarily; it depends on the type. But nevertheless, there is a concern about Open Space/Nature30 preserving and protecting what is here. The “lake” is key to the identity of Prior Lake. This is not a surprise as it is not a surprise that it is part of More Retail15 your name. But nevertheless, when we’ve asked this in areas like Minnetonka or other communities, the lake doesn’t play as large as a role as it does here. “Low crime/public safety” – we saw that entering into what people are most concerned about. Finally, “small town feel” again goes back to that 40% or so that are concerned about maintaining that part of the history of the community. 5 Lake14 More Jobs15 Low Crime/Public Safety12 More Entertainment12 Small Town Feel12 Parks and Trail8 More Restaurants8 Sense of Community7 More Public Transit3 Quality of Schools5 Historic Buildings2 Scattered5 Scattered2 Unsure4 Unsure2 Nothing38 Nothing7 05101520253035 01020304050 The Morris Leatherman CompanyThe Morris Leatherman Company Value of City Services How did people feel about the “value of city Appearance of Neighborhood Overall City Appearance services”? We asked people to rate the property taxes that they are paying and the quality of city services. Do you think the trade off is “excellent,” “good,” “only fair” or “poor.” Seventy-four percent said they would rate it positively – “excellent” or “good”. You can see massive increases in that “good” category from 50% to 63% and also almost doubling in the “excellent” category. The only “fair” and “poor” was at 22% this time – that is down 16% from where it was three years ago, with 5% being unsure. In terms of valuing city services when compared to other communities – and we have about 100 communities where we’ve actually conducted surveys and asked this question. You’re within the top 10% of communities in terms of feeling they are getting a good value for the services being provided. What about the overall city appearance? Well, this has always been a high point – 93% in 2011 indicated they would rate that positively and again, it’s 93%. However, 5% transferred from “good” to “excellent”. So, that is more suggestive than it is significant. Only 2014 City of Prior Lake 2014 City of Prior Lake2014 City of Prior Lake 7% this time indicated that they would rate it lower. City appearance is one of the strong points that differentiates Prior Lake from other communities. If we are going to ask about overall city appearance, we should ask about the appearance of your neighborhood. We found a major change here with 98% rating the appearance of their neighborhood as “excellent” or “good” with only 2% being more critical. However, if you look at “excellent” again, what has happened is the “excellent” have moved 14% which is a very significant movement. We have more people being happy about their neighborhoods and happy about their neighbors. In fact, indicating the same kind of thing consistently when we talked about code enforcement and needs there. 63 70 18 80 6 69 23 Excellent 60 70 6161 50 75 50 60 70 Good 34 7 2005 Study 50 40 7 37 Only Fair 2011 Study 40 30 2014 Study 20 1 26 23 0 30 Poor 20 11 66 0 5 4 12 20 10 2 0 8 Unsure 2 10 11 0 0 ExcellentGoodOnly FairPoorUnsure 020406080100 0 2011 Study2014 Study 2011 Study2014 Study ExcellentGoodOnly FairPoor The Morris Leatherman CompanyThe Morris Leatherman Company The Morris Leatherman Company Now, let’s talk about government and staff. The way we approach this is through asking people Empowerment Financial Management of City City Government about empowerment. The question is simply, “If you wanted to, do you think you could have a say in the way the City of Prior Lake runs things?” We had 65% indicating “yes” that they felt they could have a say, 31% indicating “no” and 4% “unsure”. That is better than two to one. Across the metropolitan area we are at 51% indicating “yes” and 40% indicating “no.” So, you are running ahead of the average there and you can see improvement from each of the studies – that is where the trend is upwards and people feeling they can have a say and they can make a difference. If we take a look at city government, we asked people if they approve or disapprove of the job of the Mayor and City Council and, depending on what their answer was, if they felt strongly that way. As you can see, 75% indicated that they did approve of the Mayor and City Council’s job 2014 City of Prior Lake 2014 City of Prior Lake 2014 City of Prior Lake with 16% indicating disapproval. What we have is a 16% increase from 2011, which is one indicator that people do approve of the direction the community is headed. In regards to city staff, 88% of those surveyed indicated either “excellent” or “good”; a positive rating with only 9% being more negative. The 88% is one of the highest that we’ve gotten across the metro currently. Seventy-eight percent three years ago was also a very high rating. We didn’t think that we would see any action there in terms of moving upward and you have managed to move upward consistently over the past three years. So, the City Council, Mayor and city staff are really well regarded by most of the residents of the community. City Council Financial management has been something that has become a key issue in a lot of areas. Sixty-six percent rate the financial management of the community as “excellent” or “good” with only 29% 70 80 7 10 61 Strongly Approve 11 13 65 51 70 Somewhat Approve 60 48 60 62 50 55 15 Somewhat Disapprove 17 60 14 50 7 Strongly Disapprove 6 2 2005 Study 2005 Study 50 40 18 2011 Study Unsure 18 40 9 2011 Study 2011 Study 29 2014 Study 32 40 City Staff 31 2014 Study 2014 Study 24 30 11 Excellent 6 30 11 54 Good 72 20 77 20 23 9 Only Fair 8 15 8 6 8 55 5 4 4 10 2 Poor 10 1 0 9 Unsure 6 0 0 5 YesNoUnsure ExcellentGoodOnly FairPoorUnsure 020406080100 The Morris Leatherman Company The Morris Leatherman Company The Morris Leatherman Company indicating only “fair” or “poor.” The norm on that across the metropolitan area currently is 45% “excellent” and “good” and 45% with only “fair” or “poor”. What we are finding across the metro is that Adequate Opportunity for Input Public Safety Concern people are really split on financial management. That isn’t the case here – by over 2 to 1 people rate the financial management of the city in a favorable manner. Do people feel they have an adequate opportunity for imputing into development decisions? This year we found some change but very little overall – 60% indicated “yes,” they feel like they have adequate opportunity, 28% said “no.” We were interested to see whether or not there would be any change to the “no” category given that 18 point drop between 2005 and 2011 – that has stabilized. Where does that compare to other communities? This one is all over the board. In some communities we found as low as 25%, 30% indicating that they have adequate opportunity with 60% saying absolutely not. On the other hand, we have communities at 60%/65% saying that they do have the opportunity for input. So again, very good connectedness between most residents and decision makers. Now, let’s discuss public safety concerns. We saw that coming up as a topic earlier. The sense of safety in particular is one of the key values that people place into their determination of quality of life. What 2014 City of Prior Lake 2014 City of Prior Lake are the things people are reacting to and consider to be key public safety concerns? We provided them a list wherein they could indicate which one they were most concerned about. Two came through at 50%: “traffic speeding” and “distracted driving”. Distracted driving is in fact an intense response because people were very descriptive on who was distracted, who was distracted, when they were distracted and what kinds of things they would do to those individuals who were distracted as they were driving. You will notice a change on one key issue and that is “drugs.” Concern about drugs moved from 8% to 17%. In 2011, the concern about drugs in the community was relatively low in comparison to many of 1 your neighboring communities. Now, at 17% that is moving right into alignment with what we are finding across most of the metro. Overall, when people are looking at public safety concerns, they are Violent Crime focusing much more on the driver than any immediate crime. 1 70 8 15 Traffic Speeding 22 60 25 Distracted Driving 28 8 50 Drugs 17 1 Youth Gangs 4 40 3 Busines Crimes 60 2 57 30 15 Residential Crimes 46 15 43 5 20 All Equally 2828 1 26 None of Above 16 10 13 8 11 6 Unsure 1 0 05101520253035 YesNoUnsure 2005 Study 2011 Study 2011 Study 2014 Study 2014 Study The Morris Leatherman Company The Morris Leatherman Company Park and recreational facilities has always been the jewel in the crown in terms of the City of Prior Lake Rating of City Communications Park and Recreation Facilities Park and Recreation and it remains so. The blue bar indicates the percent of households that indicated they used a particular park and recreation facility during the past year. We have a high of 85% using trails and sidewalks, we have a low of 63% indicating they used the beaches. That is still placing your demographic as one of the highest usage rates we have in the metro area. We then asked how people would rate the park and recreation facilities – “excellent,” “good,” “only fair” or “poor.” This combines the positive and negative ratings. The unfavorable ratings are almost nonexistent; only indicating minimal dissatisfaction at with trails and sidwalks. When they followed up in terms of what they were concerned about, it tended to be cracks in sidewalks or a particular trail doesn’t go by a nice part of the community anymore – very idiosyncratic kids of reasons. The overall ratings were positive – close to 95% indicated a positive rating of each of the facilities here. We then wanted to know how important those facilities were and asked people first how important the park and recreation facilities are to their quality of life in the community. Eighty-two percent rated 2014 City of Prior Lake 2014 City of Prior Lake2014 City of Prior Lake them as either “very important” or “somewhat” important. That is amazingly high given your demographics as we would’ve expected to see this based on other communities with similar demographics to yours at about the 60% total level – so, 22 points higher than what we would’ve expected. Now what about importance to the value of the home? We now have 95% indicating that it is important to the value of their home with a flat majority, which is unusual across the community, saying it is very important to my home value. So, in terms of both the quality of life and property concerns, park and recreation is very well regarded here. Finally, we looked at city communications – how good of a job has the city been doin in terms of informing residents? We have 87%, almost 90%, indicating an “excellent” or “good” with 13% being more critical in their evaluations. There is a trend 100 – if we take a look at “only fair,” the critical evaluations move from 39% in 2005 to 12%. This is a very rapid drop down to 1/3 of where they were initially. The “excellent” side of things more than 73 tripled. The 18% “excellent” rating on city communications is within the top 10% of 60 53 communities across the metro. 80 69 9 85 81 80 7676 50 75 74 4242 73 71 40 60 63 62 47 40 60 39 30 40 40 17 20 20 18 12 20 20 4 10 2 7 1 55 22 11 4 0 22 11 0 0 Very ImportantNot too Important 0 Neighborhood ParksOpen Space ParksBeaches ExcellentGoodOnly FairPoorUnsure Somewhat ImportantNot at all Important Community ParksTrails/Sidewalks Importance to Quality of LifeImportance to Value of Home 2005 Study2011 Study2014 Study UsageFavorable RatingUnfavorable Rating The Morris Leatherman Company The Morris Leatherman CompanyThe Morris Leatherman Company What we are seeing here then are certain themes in terms of what people want to see preserved, what they want to see proved, small town ambience is key to a good portion of the community, that the park and recreational facilities are very strongly supported and that the lake is also a very key component for the future. In terms of government, the linkage between citizens and their elected officials and also city staff, very good linkage and very strong ratings in comparison with elsewhere. On communications, which tends to be one of the underpinnings of high quality life ratings, in addition to ratings of staff and elected officials, the city is doing an exemplary job. The 87% is among the highest that we have in the metro area and it is clear in terms of the other questions that were on the survey is that most people are very pleased with the transparency of those communications and feel that they are being informed sufficiently. 10 THE MORRIS LEATHERMAN COMPANY CITY OF PRIOR LAKE 3128 Dean Court RESIDENTIAL SURVEY Minneapolis, Minnesota 55416 FINAL JANUARY 2014 Hello, I'm __________ of the Morris Leatherman Company, a nationwide polling firm located in Minneapolis. We've been retained by the City of Prior Lake to speak with a random sample of residents about issues facing the city. The survey is being taken because your city representatives and staff are interested in your opinions and suggestions. I want to assure you that all individual responses will be held strictly confidential; only summaries of the entire sample will be reported. (DO NOT PAUSE) 1. Approximately how many years have LESS THAN TWO YEARS....6% have you lived in Prior Lake? TWO TO FIVE YEARS.....14% 5.1 TO TEN YEARS......22% 10.1 TO TWENTY YEARS..25% 20.1 TO THIRTY YEARS..17% OVER THIRTY YEARS.....16% DON'T KNOW/REFUSED.....0% 2. How would you rate the quality of EXCELLENT.............40% life in Prior Lake -- excellent, GOOD..................55% good, only fair, or poor? ONLY FAIR..............5% POOR...................0% DON'T KNOW/REFUSED.....0% 3. What do you like MOST about living DON'T KNOW/REFUSED.....0% in Prior Lake? LOCATION...............3% SMALL TOWN FEEL.......31% QUIET.................14% SAFE...................4% SCHOOLS................9% NEIGHBORHOOD...........7% THE LAKE..............10% PEOPLE.................8% PARKS AND RECREATION...2% ACCESS TO METRO AREA...5% CLOSE TO JOB...........6% SCATTERED..............2% 1 4. In general, what do you think is DON'T KNOW/REFUSED....18% the most serious issue facing the CRIME..................7% community today? GROWTH................20% TAXES.................12% SCHOOLS................4% TRAFFIC................8% LACK OF COMMERCIAL.....9% LACK OF INDUSTRY.......4% STREET MAINTENANCE.....7% CITY SPENDING..........6% DOWNTOWN FEEL..........2% DRINKING WATER QUALTY..2% SCATTERED..............2% 5. How would you rate the general EXCELLENT.............25% sense of community that Prior Lake GOOD..................66% residents feel -- excellent, good, ONLY FAIR..............8% only fair, or poor? POOR...................1% DON'T KNOW/REFUSED.....0% 6. Now which of the following state- STATEMENT A...........32% ments comes closest to your STATEMENT B...........59% feelings? STATEMENT C............7% A. I feel a real tie to the entire NONE...................2% Prior Lake community. DON'T KNOW/REFUSED.....0% B. I have strong ties to my neigh- borhood, but weak ties to the rest of Prior Lake. C. I have neither strong ties to my neighborhood nor the comm- unity as a whole. Let's spend a few minutes discussing the future of the City of Prior Lake. 7. When thinking about a city's qual- DON’T KNOW/REFUSED.....1% ity of life, what do you think is SAFETY................30% the most important aspect of that SENSE OF COMMUNITY....18% quality? QUALITY OF SCHOOLS....15% OPEN SPACES/NATURE.....9% PARKS AND RECREATION...3% SMALL TOWN FEEL.......11% LAKE...................3% QUIET AND PEACEFUL.....9% SCATTERED..............2% 2 8. What aspects, if any, of the com- DON’T KNOW/REFUSED.....4% munity should be fixed or improved NOTHING...............20% in the future? LOWER TAXES...........15% MORE RESTAURANTS.......4% MORE RETAIL............9% LESS GROWTH...........13% STREET MAINTENANCE....15% CITY SPENDING..........7% SCHOOLS................4% DOWNTOWN...............3% TRAFFIC CONGESTION.....2% SCATTERED..............4% 9. What, if anything, is currently DON’T KNOW/REFUSED.....4% missing from the City of Prior Lake NOTHING...............38% which, if present, would greatly MORE RESTAURANTS.......8% improve the quality of life for MORE RETAIL...........15% residents? MORE PUBLIC TRANSIT....3% MORE JOBS.............15% MORE ENTERTAINMENT....12% SCATTERED..............5% 10. When you think about Prior Lake both DON’T KNOW/REFUSED.....2% today and yesterday, what, if any- NOTHING................7% thing, do you think should be pre- LAKE..................14% served for the future? OPEN SPACE/NATURE.....30% LOW CRIME/SAFETY......12% PARKS AND TRAIL........8% SMALL TOWN FEEL.......12% SENSE OF COMMUNITY.....7% QUALITY OF SCHOOLS.....5% HISTORIC BUILDINGS.....2% SCATTERED..............2% Changing focus.... The City of Prior Lake reviews the cost effectiveness of the services it provides to residents. Your opinions on this portion of the survey are particularly important to decision-makers. I am going to read you a list of some of the current services either directly provided by the city or partially subsidized by it. For each one, please rate each service as excellent, good, only fair or poor. If you have no opinion, just say so.... EXCL GOOD FAIR POOR D.K. 11. Police service? 60% 36% 3% 0% 2% 12. Fire service? 61% 33% 1% 0% 5% 13. Water quality in lakes? 13% 55% 24% 4% 5% 3 EXCL GOOD FAIR POOR D.K. 14. Quality of drinking water? 13% 47% 30% 7% 4% 15. Animal control? 11% 57% 16% 2% 14% 16. Park and trail maintenance? 30% 63% 4% 0% 3% 17. Recreation programs? 24% 61% 5% 0% 10% 18. Building inspection and permits? 7% 59% 9% 1% 24% 19. 911 emergency response time to calls? 42% 39% 1% 0% 18% 20. Zoning code enforcement? 8% 56% 12% 1% 25% 21. Economic development services? 7% 53% 18% 3% 20% 22. Transit services, such as the local Laker Link and the Blue Express? 4% 41% 22% 4% 30% 23. Neighborhood street lighting? 13% 59% 23% 4% 2% 24. City communications, such as the city newsletter and website? 15% 72% 10% 2% 2% 25. Sanitary sewer service? 12% 80% 6% 0% 2% For the next two city services, please consider only city streets. In particular, do not consider State Highway 13 or County Roads 12, 21, 42, 44, 82 and 83, as these are not maintained by the City of Prior Lake. EXCL GOOD FAIR POOR D.K. 26. City street sweeping? 17% 69% 12% 2% 1% 27. City street repair and maintenance? 17% 50% 28% 5% 0% 28. Snow and ice removal? 25% 57% 16% 3% 0% Now, I would like to re-read you that list of city services. For each one, please tell me if you consider it be an essential city service, a very important city service, a somewhat important city service, or not a very important service at all. ESS VRI SMI NVI DKR 29. Police service? 91% 9% 0% 0% 0% 30. Fire service? 93% 7% 0% 0% 0% 31. Water quality in lakes? 52% 36% 11% 2% 0% 32. Quality of drinking water? 71% 26% 3% 1% 0% 33. Animal control? 25% 40% 30% 5% 0% 34. Park and trail maintenance? 33% 47% 19% 2% 0% 35. Recreation programs? 32% 46% 19% 3% 1% 36. Building inspection and permits? 40% 41% 16% 3% 0% 37. 911 emergency response time to calls? 80% 17% 2% 1% 0% 38. Zoning code enforcement? 39% 36% 21% 3% 1% 39. Economic development services? 42% 39% 12% 5% 2% 4 ESS VRI SMI NVI DKR 40. Transit services, such as the local Laker Link and the Blue Express? 36% 39% 18% 6% 1% 41. Neighborhood street lighting? 45% 47% 7% 1% 1% 42. City communications, such as the city newsletter and website? 33% 46% 20% 2% 0% 43. Sanitary sewer service? 52% 42% 5% 1% 0% 44. City street sweeping? 43% 33% 22% 2% 0% 45. City street repair and maintenance? 74% 24% 2% 1% 0% 46. Snow and ice removal? 77% 22% 1% 0% 0% Now, for the final time I am going to read the list of city services. Given the current economic and financial environment, the city may have to make some additional tough choices in the next couple of years with respect to scaling back or eliminating certain city services. For each of the following please tell me if you would support an increase in funding for the service, keep the funding for the service at its current level, make cuts in the funding for the service, or eliminate funding for the service. (ROTATE) INC CUR CUT ELM DKR 47. Police service? 12% 88% 1% 0% 0% 48. Fire service? 8% 92% 0% 0% 0% 49. Water quality in lakes? 22% 74% 5% 0% 0% 50. Quality of drinking water? 36% 62% 2% 0% 0% 51. Animal control? 3% 70% 25% 1% 1% 52. Park and trail maintenance? 4% 82% 13% 0% 1% 53. Recreation programs? 6% 77% 15% 0% 2% 54. Building inspection and permits? 2% 83% 12% 1% 3% 55. 911 emergency response time to calls? 11% 86% 2% 0% 2% 56. Zoning code enforcement? 2% 79% 13% 2% 5% 57. Economic development services? 17% 70% 9% 1% 4% 58. Transit services, such as the local Laker Link and the Blue Express? 12% 71% 12% 2% 4% 59. Neighborhood street lighting? 11% 85% 3% 0% 1% 60. City communications, such as the city newsletter and website? 4% 80% 14% 1% 1% 61. Sanitary sewer service? 7% 91% 3% 0% 0% 62. City street sweeping? 5% 86% 8% 1% 0% 63. City street repair and maintenance? 21% 76% 2% 0% 0% 64. Snow and ice removal? 14% 85% 2% 0% 0% 5 65. When you compare the property EXCELLENT.............11% taxes you pay and the quality of GOOD..................63% city services you receive, would ONLY FAIR.............20% you rate the general value as ex- POOR...................2% cellent, good, only fair or poor? DON'T KNOW/REFUSED.....5% 66. Do you consider the city portion VERY HIGH.............10% of your property taxes to be SOMEWHAT HIGH.........45% very high, somewhat high, about ABOUT AVERAGE.........37% average, somewhat low, or very low SOMEWHAT LOW...........1% in comparison with neighboring VERY LOW...............0% cities? DON'T KNOW/REFUSED.....7% Moving on.... 67. How would you rate the general EXCELLENT.............23% appearance of City of Prior Lake GOOD..................70% -- excellent, good, only fair, or ONLY FAIR..............7% or poor? POOR...................0% DON'T KNOW/REFUSED.....0% 68. Now, how would you rate the gener- EXCELLENT.............37% al appearance of your neighborhood GOOD..................61% -- excellent, good, only fair, or ONLY FAIR..............2% or poor? POOR...................0% DON'T KNOW/REFUSED.....0% For each of the following, please tell me whether the City is too tough, about right, or not tough enough in enforcing city codes on the nuisances. TOO ABO NOT DK/ TOU RIG TOU REF 69. Animal control? 7% 71% 12% 11% 70. Junk cars? 3% 72% 18% 7% 71. Messy yards? 2% 73% 21% 4% 72. Noise? 3% 81% 12% 5% 73. Construction site management? 2% 75% 6% 18% 74. Exterior home maintenance? 2% 83% 11% 5% 75. Snow shoveling of sidewalks? 5% 73% 19% 3% 76. Maintenance and appearance of property line fences? 1% 85% 6% 8% 77. Prevention of soil erosion? 1% 78% 4% 18% 6 TOO ABO NOT DK/ TOU RIG TOU REF 78. Storage of recreational equipment, such as boats, snowmobiles, ATVs and personal watercraft? 5% 75% 18% 2% 79. Signs for real estate, yard sales and elections, in the right of way or along city streets? 4% 84% 7% 6% 80. Storage of garbage cans? 2% 90% 8% 1% 81. Which of these would be your top DON’T KNOW/REFUSED.....4% priority for greater city code NONE..................35% enforcement? ANIMAL CONTROL.........7% JUNK CARS..............6% NOISE..................9% MESSY YARDS...........12% EXTERIOR HOME..........3% STORAGE OF RECREATION..9% SNOW SHOVELING/SIDE...13% SCATTERED..............3% Moving on.... 82. Other than voting, do you feel YES...................65% that if you wanted to, you could NO....................31% have a say about the way the City DON'T KNOW/REFUSED.....4% of Prior Lake runs things? 83. How much do you feel you know GREAT DEAL............10% about the work of the Mayor and FAIR AMOUNT...........49% City Council -- a great deal, a VERY LITTLE...........41% fair amount, or very little? DON'T KNOW/REFUSED.....1% 84. From what you know, do you ap- STRONGLY APPROVE......13% prove or disapprove of the job SOMEWHAT APPROVE......62% the Mayor and City Council are SOMEWHAT DISAPPROVE...14% doing? (WAIT FOR RESPONSE) And do STRONGLY DISAPPROVE....2% you feel strongly that way? DON'T KNOW/REFUSED.....9% IF OPINIONS ARE STATED IN QUESTION #84, ASK: (n=366) 7 85. Why do you feel that way DON'T KNOW/REFUSED.....1% about the Mayor and City GOOD JOB..............41% Council? LISTEN.................9% DO NOT LISTEN..........6% COULD IMPROVE.........10% SPENDING...............7% NO PROBLEMS...........19% NEED MORE BUSINESS.....2% TOO MUCH GROWTH........3% SCATTERED..............3% 86. From what you have seen or heard, EXCELLENT.............11% how would you rate the job per- GOOD..................77% formance of the Prior Lake City ONLY FAIR..............8% staff -- excellent, good, only POOR...................0% fair, or poor? DON'T KNOW/REFUSED.....5% 87. During the past year, have you NO....................63% contacted by telephone, in person, YES/TELEPHONE.........24% or electronically any City staff YES/IN PERSON.........12% member? YES/ELECTRONICALLY.....1% DON'T KNOW/REFUSED.....0% IF "YES," ASK: (n=148) Thinking about that last contact, for each of the following characteristics, please rate the Prior Lake staff as excel lent, good, only fair, or poor.... EXCL GOOD FAIR POOR DK/R 88. Courtesy and helpful- ness of the Information Desk receptionist? 42% 53% 5% 0% 0% 89. Ease of reaching a department staff member who could help you? 45% 46% 7% 3% 1% 90. Courtesy and helpfulness of the department staff? 47% 50% 1% 2% 0% 91. Overall, how would you rate the EXCELLENT..............5% financial management of the City GOOD..................61% of Prior Lake -- excellent, good, ONLY FAIR.............24% only fair or poor? POOR...................5% DON'T KNOW/REFUSED.....6% 8 92. Do you think the city is doing too TOO MUCH...............4% much, not enough or about the ABOUT RIGHT AMOUNT....69% right amount financially to plan NOT ENOUGH............16% for Prior Lake's future? DON'T KNOW/REFUSED....12% Moving on.... 93. Are there areas in the City of YES....................7% Prior Lake where you do not feel NO....................93% safe? DON'T KNOW/REFUSED.....1% IF "YES," ASK: (n=28) 94. In which areas do you not feel DON’T KNOW/REFUSED.....0% safe? EVERYWHERE............18% DOWNTOWN..............18% LOW INCOME AREAS......11% CASINO................40% SCATTERED AREAS.......14% 95. What would make you feel more DON’T KNOW/REFUSED....29% safe? MORE POLICE PATROLS...46% MORE STREET LIGHTS....21% SIDEWALKS..............4% 96. Please tell me which one you consider to be the greatest concern in Prior Lake? If you feel that none of these prob- lems are serious in Prior Lake, just say so. (READ LIST) Violent crime.................................1% Youth gangs...................................4% Speeding.....................................22% Drugs........................................17% Distracted driving...........................28% Business crimes, such as shop- lifting and check fraud..................2% Residential crimes, such as burglary, theft, and vandalism..........15% ALL EQUALLY...................................1% NONE OF THE ABOVE.............................8% DON'T KNOW/REFUSED............................1% 97. How would you rate the amount of TOO MUCH...............2% police patrolling in your neigh- ABOUT RIGHT AMOUNT....89% borhood -- would you say they do NOT ENOUGH.............9% too much, about the right amount, DON'T KNOW/REFUSED.....1% or not enough? 9 I would like to read a list of traffic violations. For each one, please tell me if it should be a top priority for the Police Department, a high priority, a moderate priority, a low priority or not a priority at all for the Police Department. (ROTATE) ATP HIP MOP LOP NAA DKR 98. Loud mufflers? 6% 12% 29% 35% 19% 0% 99. Illegal parking? 4% 18% 38% 33% 8% 0% 100. Junk cars? 7% 18% 31% 26% 18% 0% 101. Vehicles running stop lights and stop signs? 28% 45% 19% 6% 2% 0% 102. Careless driving? 49% 38% 11% 2% 1% 0% 103. Drunken driving? 72% 23% 3% 2% 1% 0% 104. Driving without seat belts? 26% 37% 24% 10% 4% 0% Let's talk about economic development for a few minutes..... 105. Are there any types of development DON’T KNOW/REFUSED.....2% you would like to see in the city? NO....................40% (IF "YES," ASK:) What are they? BIG BOX RETAIL........14% BOUTIQUE SHOPS.........5% FAMILY SITDOWN REST...12% FINE DINING............4% JOB PRODUCING.........16% SERVICE BUSINESSES.....2% SCATTERED..............5% 106. Are there any types of development DON’T KNOW/REFUSED.....1% or redevelopment you would strongly NO....................52% oppose? FAST FOOD..............4% BIG BOX RETAIL........10% BARS..................10% ADULT ENTERTAINMENT...12% LOW-INCOME HOUSING.....3% CASINO EXPANSION.......2% HIGH-RISE APARTMENTS...3% SCATTERED..............3% 107. Do you feel that Prior Lake resi- YES...................60% dents have an adequate opportunity NO....................28% to provide input into the zoning DON'T KNOW/REFUSED....13% and land use decision-making process? The City has an objective of 50% of its residents working in Prior Lake by 2030. 10 108. Do you agree or disagree with this STRONGLY AGREE........12% objective? (WAIT FOR RESPONSE) AGREE.................60% Do you feel strongly that way? DISAGREE..............14% STRONGLY DISAGREE......5% DON'T KNOW/REFUSED....10% Turning to park and recreation issues. When you consider your quality of life in the city.... 109. How important are park and recrea- VERY IMPORTANT........40% tional facilities to you -- very SOMEWHAT IMPORTANT....42% important, somewhat important, not NOT TOO IMPORTANT.....17% too important or not at all NOT AT ALL IMPORTANT...2% important? DON'T KNOW/REFUSED.....0% When you consider the value of your home.... 110. How important is the appearance VERY IMPORTANT........53% of your neighborhood park -- very SOMEWHAT IMPORTANT....42% important, somewhat important, not NOT TOO IMPORTANT......4% too important or not at all NOT AT ALL IMPORTANT...1% important? DON'T KNOW/REFUSED.....0% 111. When you compare the property taxes EXCELLENT.............17% you pay and the quality of park and GOOD..................68% recreation services, would you rate ONLY FAIR..............9% the general value as excellent, POOR...................1% good, only fair or poor? DON'T KNOW/REFUSED.....5% The Prior Lake Park System is composed of 36 smaller neighborhood parks designed to serve residents within a one-third mile radius, four larger community parks containing ballfields and other athletic amenities, two open space parks which accommodate passive recreation, a trail system and two swimming beaches. For each of the following facilities, first, tell me if you or members of your household have used it during the past year. Then, for those you have used, please rate them as excellent, good, only fair or poor. If you have no opinion, just say so.... NOT EXC GOO FAI POO DKR 112. Smaller neighborhood parks? 24% 24% 50% 2% 0% 1% 113. Larger community parks, such as Lakefront, Memorial, Ponds, and Ryan? 23% 37% 38% 1% 0% 1% 114. Open space parks, such as Wood- view Park, Deerfield or Raspberry Ridge? 27% 37% 34% 2% 0% 1% 115. Trails and sidewalks? 15% 39% 42% 3% 1% 1% 11 NOT EXC GOO FAI POO DKR 116. Watzl's and Sand Point beaches? 35% 24% 38% 1% 0% 2% 117. Overall, would you rate the park EXCELLENT.............22% and recreational facilities in GOOD..................75% Prior Lake as excellent, good, ONLY FAIR..............3% only fair, or poor? POOR...................0% DON'T KNOW/REFUSED.....1% 118. Do you think the city has too many TOO MANY...............7% parks, too few or about the right TOO FEW................3% amount? ABOUT RIGHT AMOUNT....89% DON'T KNOW/REFUSED.....1% 119. Do you think there is adequate YES...................65% parking at city parks? NO....................27% DON’T KNOW/REFUSED.....8% 120. Are there any park and recreational DON’T KNOW/REFUSED.....3% facilities missing from the commun- NO....................49% ity you would like to see in Prior COMMUNITY CENTER......26% Lake? (IF "YES," ASK:) What are INDOOR POOL............4% they? FITNESS CENTER.........4% SENIOR CENTER..........4% TEEN CENTER............7% WATER PARK.............2% SCATTERED..............2% 121. Have you or members of your house- YES...................35% hold participated in city recrea- NO....................65% tion programs during the past two DON'T KNOW/REFUSED.....0% years? IF "YES," ASK: (n=141) 122. How would you rate your ex- EXCELLENT.............33% perience with the City GOOD..................66% recreation programs -- ex- ONLY FAIR..............1% cellent, good, only fair or POOR...................0% poor? DON'T KNOW/REFUSED.....0% 123. Have you or members of your house- YES...................28% hold participated in any programs NO....................72% offered by sports associations in DON'T KNOW/REFUSED.....0% the City of Prior Lake in the past two years? IF "YES," ASK: (n=113) 12 124. Do you think the cost to parti- TOO HIGH..............16% cipate in sports association ABOUT RIGHT...........84% programs in the city is too DON’T KNOW/REFUSED.....0% high or are the cost about right? 125. Have you or members of your house- YES...................67% hold participated in a community NO....................33% celebration or event, such as Music DON'T KNOW/REFUSED.....0% Fest, Lakefront Days or Lakefront Dazzle, during the past two years? IF "YES," ASK: (n=266) 126. How would you rate your ex- EXCELLENT.............45% perience with the City event GOOD..................53% -- excellent, good, only ONLY FAIR..............2% fair, or poor? POOR...................0% DON'T KNOW/REFUSED.....0% Moving on.... For each of the following communication channels, please tell me whether it is a major source, minor source or no source at all about Prior Lake news, activities, events or City policies? MAJ MIN NOT DKR 127. The "Prior Lake American?" 73% 21% 5% 0% 128. Government access cable television channels 8, 15 or 81? 11% 32% 56% 1% 129. "Wavelength," the city newsletter? 56% 31% 13% 0% 130. Co-workers/Neighbors? 19% 56% 25% 0% 131. The Star Tribune? 6% 34% 60% 1% 132. The City's website? 25% 34% 41% 1% 133. City's e-mailed newsletters? 9% 24% 67% 1% 134. The City's Facebook page or Twitter? 1% 15% 82% 3% 135. Webstreaming of city meetings? 3% 17% 79% 2% 136. If you could choose the best way for DON’T KNOW/REFUSED.....0% you to receive information about NONE...................1% City government and the issues fac- PRIOR LAKE AMERICAN...40% ing the community, what would it CABLE TV...............4% be? CITY NEWSLETTER.......28% CITY WEBSITE..........13% E-MAIL.................8% MAILINGS...............4% SCATTERED..............2% 13 137. Do you recall receiving the City YES...................89% newsletter -- "Wavelength" NO....................11% -- during the past year? DON'T KNOW/REFUSED.....0% IF "YES," ASK: (n=357) 138. How effective is this city VERY EFFECTIVE........42% publication in keeping you SOMEWHAT EFFECTIVE....49% informed about activities in NOT TOO EFFECTIVE......7% the city -- very effective, NOT AT ALL EFFECTIVE...1% somewhat effective, not too DON'T KNOW/REFUSED.....1% effective, or not at all ef- fective? 139. Overall, how would you rate the EXCELLENT.............18% job the City does in communicating GOOD..................69% with residents -- excellent, good, ONLY FAIR.............12% only fair or poor? POOR...................1% DON'T KNOW/REFUSED.....0% Now, just a few more questions for demographic purposes.... Could you please tell me how many people in each of the following age groups live in your household. Please include yourself in the proper age group. Let's start oldest to youngest.... 140. First, persons 65 or over? NONE..................81% ONE...................10% TWO OR MORE............9% REFUSED................0% 141. Adults, 18 to 64? NONE..................10% ONE...................19% TWO...................64% THREE OR MORE..........7% REFUSED................0% 142. Children under 18 years of age? NONE..................60% ONE...................13% TWO...................20% THREE OR MORE..........7% REFUSED................0% 143. Do you own or rent your present OWN...................83% residence? RENT..................17% DON'T KNOW/REFUSED.....0% IF "OWN," ASK: (n=331) 14 144. Which of the following cate- UNDER $200,000........11% gories would contain the $200,000-$300,000.....35% approximate value of your $300,000-$400,000.....32% residential property -- under $400,000-$500,000.....14% $200,000, $200,000-$300,000, OVER $500,000..........5% $300,000-$400,000, $400,000 DON'T KNOW.............0% -$500,000, or over $500,000? REFUSED................4% 145. What is your age, please? 18-24..................5% 25-34.................17% 35-44.................23% 45-54.................23% 55-64.................19% 65 AND OVER...........14% 146. Finally, thinking about your STATEMENT A............4% household finances, how would you STATEMENT B...........27% describe your financial situation, STATEMENT C...........50% would you say that -- STATEMENT D...........18% A) Your monthly expenses are ex- DON'T KNOW/REFUSED.....1% ceeding your income; B) You are meeting your monthly expenses but are putting aside little or no savings; C) You are managing comfortably while putting some money aside; D) Managing very well? 147. Gender MALE..................50% FEMALE................50% 148. PRECINCT PRECINCT 1............12% PRECINCT 2.............9% PRECINCT 3............16% PRECINCT 4............16% PRECINCT 5............15% PRECINCT 6A...........11% PRECINCT 6B............9% PRECINCT 7............13% 15