Seventy percent of residents think Vancouver is an excellent or very good place to live, at least according to a small subsection of the city’s population.
The 2017 Community Survey took note of responses from 577 residents who participated last year.
“I think this is really great news,” said Vancouver communications director Carol Bua.
Bua noted during the council’s annual retreat Friday when the council discussed the survey that the only cities she found with a higher satisfaction rating were Bellingham and Beaverton, Ore.
The survey covered a wide array of issues from the importance of potential funding priorities to how informed citizens are about their government.
City Manager Eric Holmes said the encouraging takeaway from the survey is that the council priorities seem to align with what the citizens consider most important.
Here’s a look at what the survey found:
Best things about Vancouver: Social offerings, basic services and recreational opportunities.
Most important city services: Fire and emergency medical services, maintaining streets, police services, managing traffic and protecting the natural environment. Bua said the natural environment option is new this year to more closely resemble what other cities are asking its residents.
Least important services: Enforcing city codes related to property maintenance, supporting arts and culture and zoning and land use.
Lowest level of satisfaction: In contrast to what respondents ranked the least important, residents are also dissatisfied with the city’s response to code enforcement for property maintenance.
Planning for transportation and services for needy residents also topped the unsatisfactory list.
Highest satisfaction: Residents rate fire and emergency medical services, police services and parks maintenance among the best services. Councilor Ty Stober said he is surprised to hear residents are satisfied with police service given how vocal many residents are with their dissatisfaction.
Holmes added that he was also surprised to see parks maintenance top the list. He said they attribute the high ranking to lowered standards given how minimal the parks maintenance was until recently.
Safety: While 89 percent of respondents said they felt safe in their neighbored during the day, that number dropped to 55 percent at night. The top three reasons given for a lack of perceived safety were generalized fear, homeless people and too few street lights.
Government involvement: In total, 58 percent of respondents stated they felt either well or somewhat informed about their city government.
Most get their information from The Columbian and 89 percent said they have not attended a city council meeting in the last 12 months.
By the Numbers
Survey respondents:
51 percent female
35 percent employed in private business, 27 percent retired
41 percent households couple with no children
80 percent white, 11 percent Hispanic, 8 percent Asian/Pacific Islander, 3 percent Black, 1 percent Native American/Indian, 2 percent other
66 percent own their home
49 percent between 30 and 59 years old
41 percent earn between $35,000 and $74,999
Sixty-seven percent said they have not watched a meeting on CVTV in the last year.
Taxes: When given the option to raise business, sales or property taxes, residents preferred an increase to business tax with 68 percent support. Sixty percent supported an increase in sales tax while only 49 percent favor an increase in property tax.
However, a combination of any two of the taxes received 74 percent support.
