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Home My WebLink About12 09 13 Community Survey O� P ��P ti � V �' 4646 Dakota Street SE Prior Lake, MN 55372 �. CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION REPORT MEETING DATE: December 9, 2013 AGENDA #: Work Session PREPARED BY: Dr. Bill Morris and Peter Leatherman AGENDA ITEM: COMMUNITY SURVEY DISCUSSION: Please refer to the agenda report for item 5H together with the copy of the 2011 survey which is attached, along with a transcript of the survey results report which Dr. Bill Morris gave at a Council meeting in 2012. The purpose of the work session is to focus on a number of topics regarding the community survey including: • Sampling techniques and survey validity • Good feeling tool or objective data source • Examples of survey use in other communities • The 2011 survey questions � Possible survey modifications for 2014 • Other questions / discussion Attached are topical areas the City Council may wish to add to the survey. I have asked Bill and Peter to be prepared to comment both about the existing survey, the attached topics and about survey changes they are seeing in other cities. Phone 952.447.9800 / Faa: 952.447.4245 / www.cityofpriorlake.com Potential Additional Topics for2014 Community Survey 1. Neighborhood and community park usage 2. Public safety follow up, "Which traffic violation is of greatest concern: speeding, distracted driving, no seatbelts, careless driving" 3. Park questions regarding destination parks, updated park amenities, number of rinks, soccer or baseball / softball fields 4. Willingness to pay for full-time fire department duty crew to sustain response times and add fire inspections 5. One or more questions about resident technology expectations; e.g. online permits, public dashboards, citizen reporting portals 6. Revise code questions to correspond with common code violations in Prior Lake 7. Perspective on the City enforcing the number and location of boat slips at a cost to the slip / boat owner 8. Revise current areas people may feel unsafe (Q 87): everywhere, parks, low income housing areas, by lake, busy roads, casino, Tower Street 9. Do we delete fiber and incubator questions 10. Opportunities to participate in city government through advisory bodies, meeting attendance or visiting city hall 11. Other ? � DECISION RESOURCES, LTD. CITY OF PRIOR LAKE 3128 Dean Court RESIDENTIAL SURVEY Minneapolis, Minnesota 55416 FINAL NOVEMBER 2011 Hello, I'm of Decision Resources, Ltd., 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 opin- ions 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.....12% 5.1 TO TEN YEARS......27% 10.1 TO TWENTY YEARS..24o 20.1 TO THIRTY YEARS..17°s OVER THIRTX YEARS.....15g DON'T KNOW/REFUSED.....0$ 2. How would you rate the quality of EXCELLENT .............300 life in Prior Lake -- excellent, GOOD ..................64% .-� good, only fair, or poor? ONLY FAIR ..............60 POOR ...................Oo DON'T KNOW/REFUSED.....Oo 3. What do you like MOST about living DON'T KNOW/REFUSED.....1� in Prior Lake? LOCATION ..............240 SMALL TOWN FEEL.......340 QUIET ..................60 SAFE ...................5% SCHOOLS ................20 NEIGHBORHOOD...........7� THE LAKE ..............10� PEOPLE .................70 PARKS AND RECREATION...3$ ACCESS TO METRO AREA...2$ � 1 � 4. In general, what do you think is DON'T KNOW/REFUSED....110 the most serious issue facing the CRIME ..................20 community today? GROWTH ................14% TAXES .................270 SCHOOLS ...............lOs TRAFFIC ................90 LACK OF COMMERCIAL.....80 LACK OF INDUSTRY.......3� STREET MAINTENANCE.....4% CITY SPENDING..........8$ SCATTERED ..............4% 5. How would you rate the general EXCELLENT .............140 sense of community that Prior Lake GOOD ..................72% residents feel -- excellent, qood, ONLY FAIR .............12% only fair, or poor? POOR ...................2% DON'T KNOW/REFUSED.....0$ 6. Now which of the following state- STATEMENT A...........36% ments comes closest to your STATEMENT B...........53� feelings? STATEMENT C...........110 A. I feel a real tie to the entire NONE ...................10 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. Changing focus.... 7. When you compare the property EXCELLENT ..............6°s taxes you pay and the quality of GOOD ..................50� city services you receive, would ONLY FAIR .............340 you rate the general value as ex- POOR ...................40 cellent, good, only fair or poor? DON`T KNOW/REFUSED.....6% 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 lzst 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.... � 2 � EXCL GOOD FAIR POOR D.K. 8. Police service? 41� 52� 3� 1$ 3$ 9. Fire service? 430 49� 3� 0� 5� 10. Water quality in lakes? 60 43� 33� 13� 6$ 11. Quality of drinking water? 80 53� 26� 13$ 1� 12. Animal control? 15� 630 12� 2� 9� 13. Park and trail maintenance? 25� 67� 4� 0� 4� 14. Recreation programs? 14� 69� 5� 0� 120 15. Building inspection and permits? 7� 69� 8� 2� 15� 16. 911 emergency response time to calls? 30� 55� 3$ 0� 13$ 17. Zoning code enforcement? 30 73� 9� 2� 13� 18. Economic development services? 30 720 11� 3� 120 19. Transit services, such as the local Laker Link and the Blue Express? 10% 58� 15� 30 150 20. Neighborhood street lighting? 9� 70� 15� 4� 20 21. City communications, such as the city newsletter and website? 13� 70� 9� 2$ 70 22. Sanitary sewer service? 11� 83% 4� 0� 3% For the next two city services, please consider only city streets. ^ In particula�r, 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. 23. City street sweeping? 20$ 690 8� 1� 2� 24. City street repair and maintenance? 13� 59� 21� 7� 1� 25. Snow and ice removal? 21% 63� 12$ 4� 1� 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 26. Police service? 67� 33� Oo 0� Oo 27. Fire service? 70� 30� 1$ 0� 0� 28. Water quality in lakes? 29� 610 9� 1$ 0� 29. Quality of drinking water? 42� 530 5$ 1� 0� 30. Animal control? 17� 60� 22� 1$ Oo 31. Park and trail maintenance? 16� 59$ 24$ 1� Oo 32. Recreation programs? 14� 540 24� 7� 1� 33. Building inspection and permits? 18� 59� 15% 6� 2� —� 34. 911 emergency response time to calls? 46% 50� 4� 0$ Og 3 ESS VRI SMI NVI DKR � 35. Zoning code enforcement? 16� 600 18� 4� 3� 36. Economic development services? 180 56� 16� 8� 3$ 37. Transit services, such as the local Laker Link and the B1ue Express? 21$ 49� 21� 10$ 1� 38. Neighborhood street liqhting? 230 64� 11� 2$ 10 39. City communications, such as the city newsletter and website? 19� 56g 19� 5� 1� 40. Sanitary sewer service? 30� 66% 30 1� lo 41. City street sweeping? 23% 64� 120 1� lo 42. City street repair and maintenance? 470 510 2$ 0� Oo 43. Snow and ice removal? 50a 500 1� Oo 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 44. Police service? 6� 94� lg 0� 0� 45. Fire service? 6� 94� l� 0� 0� 46. Water quality in lakes? 23% 75g 1� 0� 1a 47. Quality of drinking water? 24� 74� 2� 0� Oo 48. Animal control? 30 820 140 1� 1� 49. Park and trail maintenance? 0% 87a 12� 0� 1� 50. Recreation programs? 2� 83� 15% 0� 10 51. Building inspection and permits? 1� 850 110 1g 3% 52. 911 emergency response time to calls? 4� 94� 30 0� 10 53. Zoning code enforcement? 10 80% 15� la 30 54. Economic development services? 2% 80� 15� 1� 3� 55. Transit services, such as the local Laker Link and the Blue Express? 9� 76� 12� 2� 2% 56. Neighborhood street lighting? 6$ 86� 6� 1� 1� 57. City communications, such as the city newsletter and website? 2% 83� 14� 1a 0� 58. Sanitary sewer service? 3� 93� 5g Oo 1% 59. City street sweeping? 7% 86� 7� 1� Oo 60. City street repair and maintenance? 17� 83� 1� 0$ 0� 61. Snow and ice removal? 130 86� 2$ 0� 0% � 4 � Moving on.... 62. How would you rate the general EXCELLENT .............18� appearance of City of Prior Lake GOOD.... ............75$ -- excellent, good, only fair, or ONLY FAIR ..............7� or poor? POOR ...................1% DON'T KNOW/REFUSED.....0% 63. Now, how would you rate the gener- EXCELLENT .............23� al appearance of your neighborhood GOOD ..................69� -- excellent, good, only fair, or ONLY FAIR ..............8� or poor? POOR ...................1� DON'T KNOW/REFUSED.....Oo 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 64. Animal control? 7� 77� 9� 7% 65. Junk cars? 4� 79� 14� 4� ,.� 66. Messy yards? 2� 77$ 18� 3� 67. Noise? 30 84$ 11� 3� 68. Construction site management? 4g 78� 8� 11g 69. Exterior home maintenance? 3a 79� 14� 30 70. Snow shoveling of side- walks? 3$ 77$ 16� 5� 71. Maintenance and appearance of property line fences? 3� 830 10a 5� 72. Prevention of soil erosion? 2% 81� 60 12� 73. Storage of recreational equipment, such as boats, snowmobiles, ATVs and personal watercraft? 9� 78� 9� 4� 74. Signs for real estate, yard sales and elections, in the right of way or alonq city streets? 13$ 77$ 6a 40 Moving on.... 75. Other than voting, do you feel YES ...................60� that if you wanted to, you could NO ....................320 � have a say about the way the City DON'T KNOW/REFUSED.....80 of Prior Lake runs things? 5 76. How much do you feel you know GREAT DEAL............10$ � about the work of the Mayor and FAIR AMOUNT...........51$ City Council -- a great deal, a VERY LITTLE...........38$ fair amount, or very little? DON'T KNOW/REFUSED.....1$ 77. From what you know, do you ap- STRONGLY APPROVE......11� prove or disapprove of the job SOMEWHAT APPROVE......A8� the Mayor and City Council are SOMEWHAT DISAPPROVE...17� doing? (WAIT FOR RESPONSE) And do STRONGLY DISAPPROVE....6� you feel strongly that way? DON'T KNOW/REFUSED....18� IF OPTNIONS ARE STATED IN QUESTION #77, ASK: (N=327) 78. Why do you feel that way DON'T KNOW/REFUSED.....40 about the Mayor and City GOOD JOB ..............27$ Council? LISTEN .................9� POOR JOB ...............2� DO NOT LISTEN..........5� COULD IMPROVE.........14� ISSUES .................5� SPENDING ..............11$ NO PROBLEMS...........11$ NEED MORE BUSINESS.....5$ TOO MUCH GROWTH........5$ ^ SCATTERED ..............3� 79. From what you have seen or heard, EXCELLENT ..............60 how would you rate the job per- GOOD ..................720 formance of the Prior Lake City ONLY FAIR .............150 staff -- excellent, good, only POOR ...................1$ fair, or poor? DON'T KNOW/REFUSED.....6� 80. During the past year, have you NO ....................580 contacted by telephone, in person, YES/TELEPHONE.........24% or electronically any City staff YES/IN PERSON.........15� member? YES/ELECTRONICALLY.....30 DON'T KNOW/REFUSED.....20 IF "YES," ASK: (N=163) 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.... n 6 � EXCL GOOD FAIR POOR DK/R 81. Courtesy and helpful- ness of the Information Desk receptionist? 31� 580 9� 1� 1� 82. Ease of reaching a department staff member who could help you? 29�5 53� 16$ 1� 1� 83. Courtesy and helpfulness of the department staff? 31% 52� 13� 4� 0� 84. Overall, how would you rate the EXCELLENT ..............4% financial management of the City GOOD ..................50% of Prior Lake -- excellent, good, ONLY FAIR .............29% only fair or poor? POOR ...................8� DON'T KNOW/REFUSED.....9� 85. Do you think the city is doing too T00 MUCH ...............5� much, not enough or about the ABOUT RIGHT AMOUNT....61� right amount financially to plan NOT ENOUGH............240 for Prior Lake's future? DON'T KNOW/REFUSED....11� ^ Moving on.... 86. Are there areas in the City of YES ....................2� Prior Lake where you do not feel NO ....................97� safe? DON'T KNOW/REFUSED.....1� IF "YES," ASK: (N=9} 87. In which areas do you not feel safe? EVERYWHERE, 11�; PARKS, 33�; LOW INCOME HOUSING AREAS, 11$; BY LAKE, 11$; BUSY ROADS, 110; CASINO, 11�; TOWER STREET, 11�. 88. What would make you feel more safe? UNSURE, 11%; MORE PATROLS, 220; MORE LIGHTS, 22$; LESS PEOPLE LOITERING, 11$; NO LOW INCOME HOUSING, 110; MORE SIDEWALKS, 22�. I would like to read you a short list of public safety concerns..... � 7 89. 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) Viol ent crime ...............................1� Traffic speeding ...........................15� Distracted driving .........................25� Drugs.......................................8� Y outh gangs .................................1� Business crimes, such as shop- lifting and check fraud ................3� Residential crimes, such as burglary, theft, and vandalism........15� ALL EQUALLY .................................5$ NONE OF THE ABOVE ..........................26� DON'T KNOW/REFUSED ..........................2� 90. How would you rate the amount of TOO MUCH ...............3� police patrolling in your neigh- ABOUT RIGHT AMOUNT....79� borhood -- would you say they do NOT ENOUGH............18� too much, about the right amount, DON'T KNOW/REFUSED.....0� or not enough? Let's talk about economic development for a few minutes..... ^ 91. Do you feel that Prior Lake resi- YES ...................57� dents have an adequate opportunity NO ....................28� to provide input into the zoning DON'T KNOW/REFUSED....16� and land use decision-making process? 92. Do you support or oppose the City STRONGLY SUPPORT......160 providing financial incentives to SUPPORT ...............520 attract specific types of develop- OPPOSE ................14� ment? (WAIT FOR RESPONSE) Do you STRONGLY OPPOSE........70 feel strongly that way? DON'T KNOW/REFUSED....11% The City has an objective of 50� of its residents working in Prior Lake by 2030. 93. Do you agree or disagree with this STRONGLY AGREE........15% objective? (WAIT FOR RESPONSE) AGREE .................48� Do you feel strongly that way? DISAGREE ..............160 STRONGLY DISAGREE......6$ DON'T KNOW/REFUSED....15$ � 8 ^ A business incubator provides support and mentoring to small businesses to help the businesses during their start up period. Typically, small businesses occupy one building to share services, such as telephone and internet service at a reduced rental rate. After a set amount of time, the business would leave the office space, but hopefully remain in the city providing jobs for the community. The City of Prior Lake is considering supporting business incubators. 94. Would you favor or oppose the City STRONGLY AGREE........24� supporting business incubators? AGREE .................48� (WAIT FOR RESPONSE) Do you feel DISAGREE ...............90 strongly that way? STRONGLY DISAGREE......5% DON'T KNOW/REFUSED....15� Fiber-optic high capacity broadband service provides a wide array of services for businesses and residents, with faster download and upload speeds and expanded content capacity for education, finance, entertainment and medical information. 95. How important do you think improv- VERY IMPORTANT........41� ed Internet access and speeds are SOMEWHAT IMPORTANT....35� to the recruitment and retention NOT T00 IMPORTANT.....11� � of businesses in the City of Prior NOT AT ALL IMPORTANT...4� Lake -- is it very important, DON'T KNOW/REFUSED....10� somewhat important, not too impor- tant or not at all important? 96. Which of the following do you OPTION A ..............340 think is the proper role of the OPTION B ..............34� City of Prior Lake with respect to OPTION C ..............12� fiber optic, high capacity broad- NONE (VOL) .............60 band service? (ROTATE) DON'T KNOW/REFUSED....140 A) Continue to identify service gaps and opportunities, but let the private sector alone deter- mine these services; B) Consider public-private part- nerships to increase service availability; or C) The City should own its own network and provide this service either as a wholesaler or retailer. Turning to park and recreation issues..... The Prior Lake Park System is composed of 51 smaller neighborhood '� parks designed to serve residents within a one-third mile radius, four larger community parks containing ballfields and other 9 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 P00 DKR 97. Smaller neighborhood parks? 22� 33$ 43g 2� 0� 0� 98. Larger community parks, such as Lakefront, Memorial, Ponds, and Ryan? 18% 44$ 37$ 2$ Oo 0$ 99. Open space parks, such as Wood- view Park, Deerfield or Raspberry Ridge? 330 30g 34� 3$ 0� 0� 100. Trails and sidewalks? 20% 28$ 48� 3� 0� 1% 101. Watzl's and Sand Point beaches? 31� 30$ 36� 3� 0� 1� 102. Overall, would you rate the park EXCELLENT .............25$ and recreational facilities in GOOD ..................69� Prior Lake as excellent, good, ONLY FAIR ..............4� only fair, or poor? POOR ...................Oo DON'T KNOW/REFUSED.....10 ^ 103. Do you think the city has too many T00 MANY ...............8$ parks, too few or about the right T00 FEW ................3� amount? ABOUT RIGHT AMOUNT....87� DON'T KNOW/REFUSED.....1� 104. Are there any park and recreational facilities missing from the community you would like to see in Prior Lake? (IF "YES," ASK:) What are they? NO, 890; DOG PARK, 2�; SWIMMING POOL, 4$; MORE TRAILS, 1�; COMMUNITY CENTER, 1$; SCATTERED, 3$. 105. Have you or members of your house- YES ...................41� hold participated in city recrea- NO ....................59$ tion programs during the past two DON'T KNOW/REFUSED.....0� years? IF "YES," ASK: (N=164) 106. How would you rate your ex- EXCELLENT .............32� perience with the City GOOD ..................65� recreation programs -- ex- ONLY FAIR ..............2$ � cellent, good, only fair or POOR ...................0� � '�, poor? DON'T KNOW/REFUSED.....1$ 10 I � 107. Have you or members of your house- YES ...................20� hold participated in any programs NO ....................80� �I offered by sports associations in DON'T KNOW/REFUSED.....0� ' the City of Prior Lake in the past two years? IF "YES," ASK: (N=82) 108. Do you think the cost to parti- TOO HIGH ..............29$ cipate in sports association ABOUT RIGHT...........67% programs in the city is too DON'T KNOW/REFUSED.....4$ high or are the cost about right? 109. Have you or members of your house- YES ...................63� hold participated in a community NO ....................37� celebration or event, such as Jazz DON'T KNOW/REFUSED.....0� Fest, Lakefront Days or Lakefront Dazzle, during the past two years? IF "YES," ASK: (N=252) 110. How would you rate your ex- EXCELLENT .............27� ^ perience with the City event GOOD ..................69� -- excellent, good, only ONLY FAIR ..............4� fair, or poor? POOR ..............:....0� DON'T KNOW/REFUSED.....0$ As you may know, almost every Saturday morninq there is a Farrner's Market in Downtown Prior Lake on Main Street between Dakota Street and County Road 21. 111. Do you think this is the right YES ...................80� location for the Farmer's Market? NO ....................12� DON'T KNOW/REFUSED.....8$ IF "N0," ASK: 112. Where do you think the Farmer's Market should be locat ed? UNSURE, 15$; PREVIOUS LOCATION, 150; LAKEFRONT PARK, 13$; LESSY BUSY AREA, 35�; SCATTERED PARKS, 9�; SCATTERED AREAS, 13$. Moving on.... � 11 For each of the following communication channels, please tell me � whether it is a major source, minor source or no source at all about Prior Lake news, activities, events or City policies? MAJ MIN NOT DKR 113. The "Prior Lake American?" 71� 22� 6� 1� 114. Government access cable television channels 8, 15 or 81? 12� 290 59� 1� 115. "Wavelength," the city newsletter? 40� 45� 16o Oo , 116. Co-workers/Neighbors? 220 580 200 0� 117. The Star Tribune? 10� 34% 56% 1� 118. The City's website? 240 34� 420 0� 119. City's e-mailed newsletters? 120 19% 69� 10 120. The City's Facebook page or Twitter? 40 11a 850 1� 121. Webstreaming of city meetings? 6a 16� 770 20 122. If you could choose the best way for you to receive informa- tion about City government and the issues facing the commun ity, what would it be? CITY NEWSLETTER, 14�; PRIOR LAKE AMERICAN, 44$; MAILINGS, 6$; E-MAILED NEWSLETTER, 11%; WEBSITE, 18%; WORD OF MOUTH, ^ 4�; SCATTERED, 3%. 123. Does your household currently sub- CABLE .................60� scribe to cable television, satel- SATELLTTE .............30� lite television or neither? NEITHER ...............10� DON'T KNOW/REFUSED.....0$ IF "CABLE," ASK: 124. How would you rate the qual- EXCELLENT ..............7% of service provided by your GOOD ..................54$ cable company -- excellent, ONLY FAIR .............260 good, only fair or poor? POOR ..................13% DON'T KNOW/REFUSED.....0$ 125. How satisfied are you with VERY SATISFIED.........9$ your choice of cable SOMEWHAT SATISFIED....60� services -- very satisfied, NOT TOO SATISFIED.....16� somewhat satisfied, not too NOT AT ALL SATISFIED..14� satisfied, or not at all sat- DON'T KNOW/REFUSED.....1$ isfied? � 12 ^ 126. How do you normally access the In- DSL ...................27$ ternet AT HOME -- DSL, broadband BROADBAND CABLE.......42� cable, satellite, wireless, dial-up SATELLITE ..............5� modem or do you not have access WIRELESS ..............14� to the Internet? DIAL-UP MODEM..........20 NO ACCESS TO INTERNET.11� IF INTERNET ACCESS, ASK: (N=356) 127. How satisfied are you with VERY SATISFIED........24� the dependability of your SOMEWHAT SATISFIED....59� internet service -- very sat- NOT T00 SATISFIED......9� isfied, somewhat satisfied, NOT AT ALL SATISFIED...7� not too satisfied or not at DON'T KNOW/REFUSED.....1� all satisfied? 128. How satisfied are you with VERY SATISFIED........24$ the speed of your internet SOMEWHAT SATISFIED....60� service -- very satisfied, NOT T00 SATISFIED......9� somewhat satisfied, not too NOT AT ALL SATISFIED...6� satisfied, or not at all sat- DON'T KNOW/REFUSED.....1� isfied? ^ 129. Overall, how would you rate the EXCELLENT ..............5� job the City does in communicating GOOD ..................73� with residents -- excellent, good, ONLY FAIR .............20� only fair or poor? POOR ...................2� DON'T KNOW/REFUSED.....1� 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.... 130. First, persons 65 or over? NONE ..................83� ONE ....................6$ TWO OR MORE...........11� 131. Adults, 18 to 64? NONE ..................140 ONE ...................14� TWO ...................63� THREE OR MORE.........10$ 132. Children under 18 years of age? NONE ..................58� ONE ...................12� TWO ...................20% � THREE OR MORE.........10$ 13 133. Do you own or rent your present OWN ...................82% � residence? RENT ..................180 '� DON'T KNOW/REFUSED.....0% IF "OWN," ASK: (N=328) 134. Which of the following cate- UNDER $200,000........17� gories would contain the $200,000-$300,000.....380 approximate value of your $300,000-$400,000.....28� residential property -- under $400,000-$500,000......7% $200,000, $200,000-$300,000, OVER $500,000..........4% $300,000-$400,000, $400,000 DON'T KNOW .............1� -$500,000, or over $500,000? REFUSED ................50 135. What is your age, please? 18-24 ..................6� 25-34 .................16°s 35-44 .................220 45-54 .................21% 55-64 .................20� 65 AND OVER...........15$ 136. Finally, thinking about your STATEMENT A............3� household finances, how would you STATEMENT B...........33°s describe your financial situation, STATEMENT C...........480 ^ would you say that -- STATEMENT D...........15� A) Your monthly expenses are ex- DON'T KNOW/REFUSED.....20 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? 137. Gender MALE ..................49$ FEMALE ................51� 138. PRECINCT PRECINCT 1............12% PRECINCT 2 .............9% PRECINCT 3............170 PRECINCT 4............16% PRECINCT 5............14$ PRECINCT 6A...........11$ PRECINCT 6B............90 PRECINCT 7............12� n 14 -� Residentiai Survey Dr. Bill Morris Comments We spoke with 400 randomly-selected households across the City of Prior Lake. The results are projectabie to within +/- 5% in 95 out of 100 cases. The non-response rate was very, very low at 3.5% and indicated an interest in taking the survey. QUALITY OF LIFE 94% percent of your residents rated the quality of life here as excellent or good. 6% rated it only fair or poor. The 94% certainly places the City of Prior Lake within the top quartile of suburbs across the Metro area. The 6°lo percent dissatisfied with the quality of life is among the lowest that we have in the Metro area, in fact. 30% excellent is an outstanding rating, but in line with what we've found over the past 12 year here. The 64% good also pretty much in line. Residents are generally very happy. In fact, they among the happiest residents with respect to their quality of life that we find across the Metro during the past decade. LIKE MOST ABOUT CITY What do people (ike most about living in the city? Well, 34% told us the small town feel, small town ambiance, ifi we want to call it that. 24% indicated the location; that the location was convenient to everything that mattered to them. And 10% indicated the lake. Now, if we take a look at the chart, which indicates a'99 study and the 2005 study, we can see first that location has become somewhat mare important, moving from 18 to 24%; the small town feel has gone _.. down from 40 to 34%; and the lake also has gone down by 6 points between this survey and the last survey. In general, residents separate into two groups: groups to see and prize the small town aspects of the community versus those who put a value more on what we call the suburban attributes of a cornmunity. But nevertheless, if we take a look at the results overall, we can see that most people do tend to mention the small town aspects of the community. When we looked at when the residents arrived in the city, what we found is that those living here under 10 years and those living here over 20-30 years really shared the same perceptions. That is, they tended to view the small town atmosphere here as being the prime characteristic that they valued the most. It 4vas the group in the middle that tended to take a look at what �ve call more suburban attributes such as how well located it is, ta jobs, groceries, and other aspects of their lives. MOST SERIOUS ISSUE Here there has been a very significant change over the past six years. In 2005, 35% percent pointed to growth, in fact the pace of growth. That now has gone down to 14%. Taxes was at 16% six years ago, that's now up to 27%. And that increase is one �ve've found right across the Metropolitan area with respect to concern about taxes. Other things that came up were city spending at 8%, which quadrupled from 2%. Traffic and lack of commercial development �vere also mentioned by smaller numbers: 9 and 8% respectively. But, in general, the two top responses in both the 2005 and 2011 survey are growth and taxes. How is this similar to other city across the Metropolitan area? Very, very similar. Taxes is usually the number one concern; and growth, tivfiether it be pace or aspects of growth, the kinds of things that people would generally see attracted to the community, ranks second. Overall then, the City now seems ta have the characteristics of a city that has gone into Type II development. And by Type II development, we mean the pace of growth is no longer considered as broadly alarming as it once was, and residents are far more concerned now with the types of things that are being brought into the community. COMMUNITY TIES Here we find some increases in trends that have been evidenced in earlier surveys. So, do peaple have a closer tie to the entire City, their neighborhood or neither? Well, one thing clearly: the number of people who say neither, that have a weak tie ta the community and to their neighborhood has certainly gone down. It is half of �vhat it was in 1999, from 23% to 11%. The neighborhood is becoming more central, 53% now indicating that's their closest tie, and 36% indicating they have a tie to the entire city. That 36% in particular, is remarkable in a 3` and 4 ring community. That is, that often tends to be the case in suburbs that are much closer to the Metropolitan area �vith far more stable populations who have lived in their cities for a much longer period of time. Now what about the sense of community here? 86% rate the sense of community positive. Only 14% disagree with that. i"hat 86% is among the top ratings that we have in the Metropolitan area. The 86% reflects that people fee( as part of the quality of life: that people are nice, that they respect one another, and certainly they feel welcome in this community. That, in itself, is one of the major key facets of community identity overall in Prior Lake. VALUE OF CITY SERVICES 56% rate the value of City services excellent or good. 38% rate them only fair or poor. And its value is relative to the amount of property taxes being paid by the individual. That 56% is running higher than the norm in the Metropolitan area. In the Metro area, we currently have about 40-45% indicating a positive rating of the value of City services, and a 50% majority indicating a negative value on city services. That isn't the case here. In fact less than 40% see a negative value. °° But in general residents feel they are getting what they're paying for, that the city services are, in fact, very cost-effectively provided. ClTY SERVICES EVALUATION What we want to see is a huge red tide (directing attention to the chart). That indicates positive evaluations of the service. As you can see, for the most part, the chart is dominated by the red. Lake water quality and drinking water quality are two areas where residents are more stringent in their evaluations. 46% rated.lake water quality lower, while drinking water quality, at 39%, also had a higher negative than most of the other services. A couple other things to point out: Police service and fire service are at the top of the Metropolitan area in their ratings, as is park maintenance. If we tal<e a look at ather services, the sno�v and ice cnntrol also is very high. But the one that stands out in terms of being �vell above the norm in the Metropolitan area is city street repair and maintenance: 72% rate that service as excellent or good. The average on that across the metro area is closer to 45% tvith a majority generally indicating a disapproval of the city service. So the City's rating then, on city street repair and maintenance, is among the highest we've encountered this year across the Metropolitan area. EMPOWERMENT Now turning to the operation of government: Do people feel they can have a say in the way things are done in the City of Priar Lake? And the answer to that is unequivocalfy, yes. 60% indicate that they can have a say by voting, 35% indicate no they can't have a say, and 8% are unsure. It should be noted that of that 32%, about half, when we quiz them a little bit further into why they felt that way, said they --- didn't want a say. That they believe in small "r" representative government; and, as a result, they would ' elect officials, go a4vay until the next election, then come back and cast an approval or disapproval vote. So you are actually looking at a fairly smail percentage of residents who feel they can't have a say. It's a testimony, really, to the transparency of the government operation. MAYOR AND CITY COUNGL Knowledge of the Mayor and City Council, 61% feel they know either a great deai or a fair amount. That's almost twice as high as the norm in the metro area. People really do fee! informed about the work going on a city hall. And when we asked them for an approval rating for the Mayor and City Council, 59% indicated approval with 23% indicating disapproval. 18% were uncertain. That 59 ta 23%, though, is over 2:1 in terms of positive to negative, and is amang the top quarter within the Metro area. A very, very good result, indeed. CITY STAFF If we turn to City staff for a moment we see almost the same patterns. 78% rate the city staff as excellent or good while 16% rate it lower. 6% are unsure. That 78% is among the highest city staff ratings that we have in the Metropolitan area; and, in fact, if we take a look at that ratio of 5:1, it stands up among the top five communities in the Metropolitan area. So both City government and City staff are wel(-viewed by residents here. FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT OF THE CITY This is an area that has become more controversial in the Metro area in the past couple of years. 54% regard the financial management of the City as either excellent or good. 37% rate it as either only fair or paor. The 54% is higher than the Metro average of 45%. That is, it's almost 10 points higher. But more importantly, a majority of residents here really do rate financial management satisfactorily. The norm, again, across the Metropolitan area is a dissatisfaction rating. FlNANCIAL ACITIVITIES TO PLAN FOR FUTURE Do residents feel the city is planning for the future through financial activities? 60% rate the City as about right, only 24% say not enough. That 24% is much lower than the norm across the Metro area, �vhich is 40%. So on financing then, people not only rate the management of current finances highly, they also believe that the city is watching out for the future of the community. PARK AND RECREATIONAL FAClLITIES Park and recreational facilities have always been very well regarded; now, they are exceptionally well regarded. 94% rate park and rec facilities, in general, as either excellent or good. That's among the highest ratings that we have in the Metro area currently. Only 4% indicate dissatisfaction. Again, the 94% is extraordinarily strong. In fact, it puts the city within the top 3 communities across the Metro. RATING THE CiTY COMMUNICATIONS One of the things that was evident from the scoring of the City Council and the knowledge of the City Council was that people do feel informed. These ratings reflect this. 78% percent give the City either an excellent or good rating for their communications. That is up from 54%. Over 30%, then, of an increase. The negative rating on the other hand is a scant 22%. The 78%a, when viewed against the norm across the Metropolitan area, which is about 55% currently, is outstanding indeed. And it just forms part of the picture, overall, that the survey tends to give about the community: And that this is a well-served community, a community that is confident about the direction in which it is going, a very informed community, which evidences trust of the City Council, the Mayor and the City staff of the actions being taken now and toward the future.