Community Survey Results

1/17/12

Late last year Shorewood hired a national firm to do a community survey by mail. The firm suggested questions based on its previous experience and the Council and staff made changes to customize the questions to Shorewood. Over 1300 surveys were randomly mailed and more than 600 were returned for an excellent 47% response rate. The survey had a confidence level of at least 95% due to the excellent response rate.

The survey report was released last week and the Insider has some observations below. Those readers who want to hear about the results directly from the survey firm should come to the 2/14/12 council work session at 600pm at City Hall.

The Insider hears that the survey results will be posted on the City's website sometime soon.

First, the survey was compared to cities across the US and to cities of population of 10,000 or less. Shorewood ranked very high in almost all categories. Quality of life and similar measures were high. Generally, one might conclude that Shorewood is doing a good to very good job of meeting the expectations and needs of its residents. So, Shorewood might focus on how to make things even better and need to spend less time fixing things.

So, what are some of the more startling results?
- 13% have never visited a park and 28% more have only visited once or twice
- 39% have never used the Shorewood website and 33% more have only used it once or twice
- 64% have never participated in a recreation activity and 22% more have done so once or twice
- 70% have never used the South Shore Center and another 24% have used it only once or twice
- 76% have never attended a meeting of local elected officials and another 18% have done so once or twice

The Insider points out that the first four areas questioned above are all ones where the City has been spending lots of time and money. So, one needs to question if this should continue. Also, the last one indicates that residents are not engaged in what's happening with their government. One should not assume residents don't care, but rather that they don't feel a need to be engaged.

What happens next? The Council needs to decide how to use the results. It has said it wants to set priorities and budgets based on the survey results. The Insider notes that some of the results may be "inconvenient" as regards some closely held existing priorities. For example, the low usage of the South Shore Center begs the question of how much effort and money should be spent on it. However, this spending has been a major focus for Mayor Lizee and Council Member Zerby. One thing for sure, the discussions will be fun to watch and report on.

Happy Reading!
The Insider