This year’s community survey from the Community Alliance of St Joseph provides information about trends, comparing our attitudes now with those gleaned from the survey conducted two years ago.
Officials say 41% of those receiving the survey filled them out and returned them this year, an improvement over the 35% who took part in 2010. The results were unveiled Tuesday by the market research firm ETC Institute of Olathe, Kansas.
Senior Vice President Karen Falk of ETC tells us the survey two years ago provides a baseline by which to judge the results from this year’s survey and look at trends in our attitudes. A few of those trends showed improvement and a few showed the need for improvement. A lot stayed about the same, and Falk says in the current economy, that’s not necessarily a bad thing.
Much of the survey dealt with perceptions, our attitudes, and our feelings of satisfaction in the City of St Joseph and Buchanan County. In an interview, Falk said there were some positive swings in attitudes revealed in the survey, including in the area of overall city services.
“We had positive increases in the efforts to keep you informed about local issues, recycling opportunities, the effectiveness of city communication, and the quality of stormwater management, all of those were significant increases,” Falk said. There was also an improvement over two years ago in our satisfaction level with the city and county services we receive for the taxes and fees we pay.
On the downside, Falk said, were the number of people reporting satisfaction with Parks and Recreation programs and the number of people satisfied with their feelings of safety in the city. Most public safety questions generated positive results for the city. Falk said 92 percent of residents said they generally felt safe in shopping areas, and 90 percent felt safe at work. A general feeling of safety in neighborhoods was reported by 87 percent of those who responded.
The survey indicates more emphasis should be placed on crime prevention, police visibility and street maintenance.
The Community Alliance, through its funding partners, pays $13,500 for each of the surveys. Alliance Director Steve Johnston says they plan to conduct another one in 2014, and every two years. Johnston says the entire survey and summary will soon be published online, at the city’s web site and elsewhere.
The Community Alliance funding partners are The City of St Joseph, Buchanan County, Missouri Western State University, The St Joseph School District, Heartland Health, The St Joseph Metrol Chamber of Commerce and The St Joseph Convention and Visitors Bureau.