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Although not exactly Ichiro’s numbers, municipal leaders are overall pretty happy with Spokane Valley’s batting average these days.
While most people are supportive of the direction the city of Spokane Valley is taking, nearly one in five think the city is doing a poor job, according to results from a recent city-commissioned survey.
When asked 46 percent thought the overall direction of the city is “good,” while 18 percent thought it is “poor.” Seven percent think it’s “excellent.”
With “poor” being perceived as the really only negative response, Mayor Richard Munson – after nearly a week of digesting the survey results – was more or less happy with the response.
“When you first read it, it seems a little more negative,” Munson said. “But when I took the survey myself, it was similar to what others said.”
There were 400 – 201 women, 199 men – questioned in the survey. They were asked to rate the city as excellent, good, fair, poor and “don’t know” in categories ranging from as a place to raise children (55 percent saying “good”) to their perception of safety during the day (75 percent saying “excellent”).
The questionnaire – dubbed the National Citizen Survey, a “semi-standardized” survey used all over the country – was conducted by the National Research Center in Boulder, Colo., in conjunction with the International City/County Management Association.
The City Council was presented the survey’s findings on May 5. Munson said that the findings are similar to what he sees in other surveys conducted in other areas through his involvement with the Association of Washington Cities.
“We are not alone,” he said. “The problems that we have are typical.”
Still, there were plenty of bright spots. The city of Spokane Valley’s approval numbers, for example fared better at 63 percent (good to excellent) than Spokane County (60 percent), the state (53) or the federal government (44).
And while only 36 percent surveyed had had any contact with city employees, most (70 percent) came away with good-to-excellent impressions.
It seems that most of the people who were questioned also really like being here. Nearly nine out of 10 surveyed said that Spokane Valley is a good place to live, while 35 percent said it’s excellent. Ninety percent responded that they would recommend the city as a good place to reside.
The overwhelming majority also think things look good (94 percent). The vast majority think there are plenty of decent places to shop (98 percent). And most are impressed with the level of service from businesses (81 percent).
In other areas, the survey found:
- 83 percent of those who responded are registered to vote.
- 92 percent said they would stay in the Valley for the next five years.
- 72 percent said they feel safe in Spokane Valley after dark.
- 91 percent think the overall image or reputation of Spokane Valley is positive.
- 75 percent believe that Spokane County Animal Protection Services is doing a good-to-excellent job.
- 54 percent though snow-removal efforts over the winter was “fair” to “poor.”
- 86 percent have good-to-excellent impressions of the city’s parks.
The results from the survey can be found at the city’s Web site, www.spokanevalley.org.
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By
Mike Huffman
