Potholes or not, we love our city

[Reprinted from the March 20, 1996 The Capital Times. Emphasis is mine. -Ed.]

By Pat Schneider

Mirroring the findings of a rash of national rankings, Madison residents have given the city high marks as a place to live. Participants in the city's first-ever customer satisfaction survey of residents rated the city 4.49 on a scale of 5. Seven percent of the 1,000 survey participants rated the city as a fair or poor place to live.

The survey also found that residents use city parks a lot, like their public library and think traffic congestion is becoming a problem.

Residents believe crime is rising in the city. They think it is important to control growth and development. They like their neighborhoods.

These were among findings sketched out Tuesday for Madison City Council members as preliminary survey results were released. The survey was conducted in February by Chamberlain Research Consultants. A full report on the survey, including a breakdown of the neighborhoods of respondents, will be released March 31. Sharon Chamberlain told council members that virtually every respondent asked to offer comment complained about potholes.

Also often stated was the old adage that police are always there when you don't want them, but never around when you need them, said Chamberlain.

Mayor Paul Soglin said he thinks the survey will be useful to city administration.

"I think it will be valuable in learning what we need to improve," he said. The survey will direct city administrators to areas where services need to be improved or residents could use a better understanding of what the city is doing, he said.

Soglin noted that while about 65 percent of residents said that crime in the city was increasing, the crime rate actually is falling.

Among the survey findings:

90 percent of residents reported that they had used city parks in the past year, followed by the library, 80 percent; Madison Metro, 57 percent; police, 27 percent; and public health department, 16 percent.
More than 63 percent said the city spends money efficiently.
62.8 percent of residents said traffic congestion was a big problem or somewhat of a problem.
Residents said they use cars most to get around, followed by walking, the bus and bicycling. Biking was rated the easiest mode of transportation in the city, however.
The public library got the highest mark from users, followed by the ambulance service, Fire Department, and the streets, health, animal control and building inspection units.
Among neighborhood services, recycling got the highest grade, followed by garbage collection, parks, street cleaning, police, brush collection, tree services, Madison Metro, snowplowing and street repair.
Some 65 percent of residents said crime in the city has increased in recent years, while 25.5 percent said the crime rate stayed the same and 3.8 percent said it decreased.
Residents put a priority on racial diversity, with 42 percent saying it was very important and 38 percent calling it somewhat important.
City efforts to maintain racial diversity were rated very good by 13.3 percent, good by 39.6 percent and fair by 32.8 percent.
Controlling growth was rated very important or important by 82.8 percent of residents.
Residents gave their neighborhoods good marks, with 43 percent Calling them very good and 44 percent good.
Quality is the most important factor in choosing a neighborhood, residents said, followed by cost of housing, distance from work or school, and proximity to shopping, friends and family.
A majority of residents-- 78 percent-- said the condition of their neighborhoods was stable. Ten percent each said their neighborhoods were better or worse than they had been.
A majority see the crime rate in their neighborhood as stable, with 60 percent saying it has stayed the same in recent years, 26 percent saying it has gone up, and 5 percent saying it dropped.
Most residents-- 80 percent-- said their neighborhoods were very safe to somewhat safe after dark. Thirteen percent said that their neighborhoods were not too safe, and 6 percent said their neighborhoods were not safe.
Residents see the downtown area as more dangerous after dark than their own neighborhoods. Some 19 percent said the area was not safe at all.
Residents were mixed over whether speeding was a problem in their neighborhood, with 47 percent saying it was a great problem or somewhat of a problem, and 54.5 saying it was a minor problem or no problem at all.
A majority of residents-- 58 percent-- said there was an adequate selection of housing in the city in their price range, but only 47 percent said that there was an adequate selection of housing for low-income residents.

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