Survey Highlights PRESENTATIO ION 20 20 FE FEBRUARY 20 2018 18 - - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

2017 Citizen Satisfaction Survey Highlights

PRESENTATIO ION 20 20 FE FEBRUARY 20 2018 18

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Background & Objectives Overview Methodology Perception of City Services Perception of Virginia Beach Sources of Information about the City Participation

Wrap Up

Agenda

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Background

• Survey of residents to assess satisfaction with

City services roughly every two years

• First conducted in 1995
• This survey was conducted in December 2017

with analysis in January 2018

• Average interview length in 2017 was 16.1 min
• 500 residents completed interviews
• 4.4% margin of error

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Background

• Data weighted to correct for sampling variation,

ensure projectibility

• All of the findings are statistically significant at a

95% level of confidence or higher

• A detailed report has been provided

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Overview

• Virginia Beach receives remarkably good scores as a

place to live and overall for the services it provides to residents

• Historically, satisfaction scores fluctuate in a normal

range; most scores stayed in that range this year

• The one area about which residents most like to

complain – traffic – doesn’t seem to have much impact

• n how they feel about the City and living here
• Their preferred communication vehicle: VBgov.com

and local TV news and local news websites 5

How Satisfaction Was Measured

• Respondents were asked

to rate each City service or “feature” on a 4-point scale:

• Very Satisfied
• Satisfied
• Dissatisfied
• Very Dissatisfied
• A “feature” is an item such

as “Overall appearance of the City”

• Respondents asked to rate

32 items in 2017, two more than in 2015

• Goal: Total Satisfaction

scores of 80% or higher

• The City exceeded that

goal in 2017 for Overall Satisfaction with Services and on a 18 of the 32 items they were asked to rate

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Overall Satisfaction with City Services - 2017

• 9 out of 10 residents are

satisfied with the services the City provides

• The dotted lines indicate upper

and lower margin for errors assuming there had been no real change in the opinions of residents

• Expect some random variation

from year to year

• Scores within margin of error
• Citizens are satisfied, and

satisfaction is largely unchanged since 2003

93.2% 92.6% 93.4% 91.4% 91.0% 93.8% 94.0% 90.7% 50% 55% 60% 65% 70% 75% 80% 85% 90% 95% 100% 2003 2005 2007 2009 2011 2013 2015 2017

• Q34. I’d like to get your overall

satisfaction with City services. Are you very satisfied, satisfied, dissatisfied or very dissatisfied overall?

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Satisfaction with Specific Services

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2017 (500) Total satisfaction

Overall satisfaction with City services 90.8% Fire Department services 98.8% City's Public Libraries 98.5% Paramedic and Rescue Squad services 98.1% Recreation centers 97.1% Overall appearance of the City 96.3% The City's museums, aquarium and cultural arts activities 96.3% Parks 92.3% Police Department services 91.9% Horticulture and Agriculture services including the City-operated farmers's market on Dam Road 91.4% 9-1-1 telephone center 90.0%

Attribute

Satisfaction with Specific Services

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2017 (500) Total satisfaction

Overall appearance of your neighborhood 89.9% Emergency management efforts to respond to disasters 89.7% City's 3-1-1 system 89.1% Public beaches in the City 87.5% Courtesy of City employees 85.8% City trash collection and recycling 85.3% Public school system 84.1% City's drinking water and waste water collection services 83.9%

Attribute

Satisfaction with Specific Services 10

2017 (500) Total satisfaction

Combat gang activity and gang violence 78.6% Work with other area communities 78.3% Conditions of the streets in your neighborhood 76.3% Job opportunities in Virginia Beach 74.3% City's efforts to communicate and engage residents 70.3% Efforts to protect natural resources 69.9% Mental health and intellectual disability services 68.3% Maintenance of existing roads and bridges 66.3% Opportunity citizen's have to share their ideas or opinions before City makes impor 63.3% Planning for residential development 57.7% Planning and construction of new city roads 55.1% Services for needy and homeless families 54.8% Efforts to address recurrent floooding and effects of sea level rise 47.0% Flow of traffic in the City 40.3%

Attribute

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• Ratings for water system and appearance of City increased
• Scores for 911 service and for courtesy of City employees remain

quite high despite decline

• Residents may not be familiar or have experience with some of

the services

2017 (500) 2015 (520) Change Attribute Total Satisfaction Total Satisfaction City's drinking water & waste water collection services 83.9% 78.8% 5.1 Overall appearance of the City 96.3% 91.7% 4.6 9-1-1 telephone center 90.0% 95.9%

• 5.9

Courtesy of City employees 85.8% 91.0%

• 5.2

Efforts to protect natural resources 69.9% 79.1%

• 9.2

Mental health & intellectual disability services 68.3% 81.0%

• 12.7

Planning for residential development 57.7% 71.9%

• 14.2

Planning and construction of new city roads 55.1% 71.7%

• 16.6

Services for needy and homeless families 54.8% 72.5%

• 17.7

Flow of traffic in the City 40.3% 50.4%

• 10.1

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What Has Changed Since the 2015 Survey

Perceptions of Virginia Beach

Only two changes are statistically meaningful between 2015 and 2017:

• Decrease in perception that Virginia Beach is safe. Current 88.2% score

is still very good

• Increase in perception that roads are too congested

Do you Strongly Agree, Agree, Disagree, or Strongly Disagree with these statements about Virginia Beach? N = 500 2017 Percent who agree or strongly agree 2015 Percent who agree or strongly agree Change Statistically significant? “Virginia Beach is a good place to live.” 94.1% 96.0%

• 1.9%

NO “For the most part, I can conveniently access City services.” 92.1% 94.6%

• 2.5%

NO “The houses in my neighborhood are well maintained.” 90.5% 88.7% 1.8% NO “Virginia Beach, in general, is a safe place to live.” 88.2% 94.0%

• 5.8%

YES “My neighborhood is a safe place to live.” 86.4% 90.2%

• 3.8%

NO “The roads I use in Virginia Beach are generally too congested.” 79.2% 72.7% 6.5% YES “Overall, I receive a good value for my City tax dollar.” 75.2% 80.0%

• 4.8%

NO “I know how to inform the City about the way I feel on important issues.” 69.8% 73.1%

• 3.3%

NO

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Perceptions of Safety

Perceptions of safety of neighborhoods in the City has been in gradual decline for more than a decade. This year, perceptions of the City

• verall slipped.

96.4% 93.6% 93.2% 93.6% 92.0% 90.7% 90.2% 86.4% 50% 55% 60% 65% 70% 75% 80% 85% 90% 95% 100% 2003 2005 2007 2009 2011 2013 2015 2017

"My neighborhood is a safe place to live." (% "agree" or "strongly agree.)

95.6% 94.8% 92.8% 94.2% 94.6% 94.8% 94.0% 88.2% 50% 55% 60% 65% 70% 75% 80% 85% 90% 95% 100% 2003 2005 2007 2009 2011 2013 2015 2017

"Virginia Beach in general is a safe place to live." (% "agree" or "strongly agree)

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Perceptions of Safety by Area

• 23451 has lower ratings on both measures
• Best ratings on both measures are in 23455.

"My neighborhood is a safe place to live." "Virginia Beach in general is a safe place to live." Percent agreeing or strongly agreeing with each statement. < 70% 70% - 79.9% 80% - 84.9% 85% - 89.9% 90% - 94.9% 95% - 99.9% 100%

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Key Drivers of Satisfaction

Living in Virginia Beach

• City’s efforts to communicate

with and engage residents

• Overall appearance of your

neighborhood

• Overall appearance of the city
• Planning for residential

development

• Job opportunities in Virginia

Beach City Services

• City’s efforts to communicate

with and engage residents

• Overall appearance of your

neighborhood

• City’s work with other area

communities to address issues impacting our region

• City’s public school system
• City’s museums, the aquarium

and cultural arts activities

• Planning and construction of new

City roads Analysis included a statistical model to show which items are most closely associated with Overall Satisfaction with living in Virginia Beach and City Services

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What Can Be Done to Make Virginia Beach a Better Place to Live?

25% of the 500 respondents answered with comments about roads and traffic

• “Fix the potholes.”
• “Working on the traffic issues. The number of traffic lights and the congestion

and where schools are located, where I work is a nightmare that there's a hospital and high school is on the same road and the time the lights change are the same time. They don't have enough access where a lot of people travel.”

• “They should design a better transportation system. There are too many cars

and too much traffic and it's hard to get from place to place because of the congested roads.”

• Taxes
• Cost of living
• Flood control
• Care for the needy and homeless
• Communications
• Recreation
• Appearance of the City
• Greenspace/Environment
• Jobs and Economic

Development (both for and against)

• Crime

Other topics mentioned include:

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Communications with Residents

8% 3% 7% 12% 13% 13% 25% 34% 37% 38% 58% 0% 20% 40% 60% 80% Do not get… Some other way 311 call center Newsletters like City… Email from the City Civic league… City's cable TV… Radio Printed newspaper Friends or family TV news

Offline Sources Used for Information about City, n= 500

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8% 2% 3% 6% 15% 19% 20% 26% 31% 66% 0% 20% 40% 60% 80% Do not use online… Other The City's Twitter feed Other social media… The City's Nextdoor… VB Alerts Facebook pages… Pilot Online TV news websites City website,…

Online Sources Used for Information about CIty, n = 500

Communications with Residents

Residents are largely happy with what the City provides today; a quarter of respondents indicated they would like more detail. Virtually no one feels the City is sending out too much iinformation.

Too much detail, 1% About the right level

• f detail,

65% Not enough detail, 27% Not sure, 7%

Do you think the information that is available about City services, programs and issues has too much detail, about the right amount of detail, or not enough detail? N = 500

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Citizen Participation

Survey respondents are active in the city

• Public beaches and City parks top the list of resources they’ve used
• 47% say they have contacted the City for a reason other than a 9-1-1 call

47% 63% 69% 75% 84% 85% 0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% Have contacted the City (excludes 9- 1-1) Visited City Recreation Center Visited public library or used library

• nline service

Visited museum, the aquarium or a cultural arts event Visited City parks Visited a public beach

Residents Reporting Each Activity (n = 500)

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Wrap Up

• High level of satisfaction that residents have living

in the City

• High level of satisfaction with City services
• Areas that appear to require attention:
• Perceptions of safety
• Awareness of City’s efforts in environmental concerns

and working with other communities on regional issues

• Traffic management

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