Grand Rapids Reporter

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. – Results of Grand Rapids’ 2022 National Community Survey™ (The NCS™) show that residents continue to believe Grand Rapids offers a favorable quality of life, but also highlight areas for improvement while the City is facing multiple crises including the health pandemic, economic disruption, climate change and social/racial tension and calls for public safety reform.

The statistically-valid survey was conducted between Feb. 11 and April 1 by Polco’s National Research Center (NRC) – a nationally recognized civic engagement firm. The report provides the opinions of a representative sample of 750 residents of the City of Grand Rapids. The margin of error around any reported percentage is 4% for all respondents and the response rate for the 2022 survey was 13%. Survey results were weighted so that the demographic profile of respondents was representative of the demographic profile of adults in Grand Rapids.

“These results demonstrate that despite the challenges of the last two years, Grand Rapids remains a resilient community and a highly desirable place to live, work and raise a family,” City Manager Mark Washington said. “The feedback also informs the implementation of our strategic plan and helps us identify areas where attention is needed so we can prioritize our work and focus resources appropriately.”

Assistant City Manager Doug Matthews presented the findings at this morning’s Committee of the Whole and explained The NCS captures residents’ opinions considering ten facets of a community: Economy, Mobility, Community Design, Utilities, Safety, Natural Environment, Parks and Recreation, Health and Wellness, Education, Arts, and Culture, and Inclusivity and Engagement. NRC then compared our local results against a database of resident opinions and perspectives gathered in surveys from over 600 communities – including 38 peer cities – whose residents evaluated the same kinds of topics on The National Community Survey.

Grand Rapids ranked at or near 85th percentile vs. peer cities in eight areas:

• Opportunities to attend cultural/arts/music activities (#1 among peer cities)
• Community support for the arts (#1)
• Opportunities to attend special events & festivals (#1)
• Water resources (#2)
• Bus or transit services (#2)
• Opportunities for education, culture and arts (#3)
• Ease of travel by public transportation (#3)
• Public library services (#3)
• Overall opportunities for music/culture/arts (#3)
• Employment opportunities (#4)

The City scored similar to national benchmark in:

• Mobility
• Built Environment
• Economy
• Parks and Recreation
• Health and Wellness
• Education and Enrichment
• Community Engagement
• Utility Infrastructure

It scored lower than the national benchmark in opinions of Safety and Natural Environment.

Matthews also outlined several key findings of the report to Mayor Bliss, City Commissioners and City administrators:

Grand Rapids residents continue to experience a high quality of life.

• Survey participants provided positive ratings for items pertaining to quality of life in Grand Rapids, on par with the city’s 2019 results and with comparison communities across the nation. At least 8 in 10 residents were pleased with Grand Rapids as a place to live, would recommend living in Grand Rapids to others, and were likely to remain in the city for the next five years. In addition, three-quarters gave excellent or good ratings to the overall quality of life in Grand Rapids and the city’s overall image or reputation.

Residents identify safety and inclusivity as potential areas of growth for the community.

• In the context of continuing calls for public safety reform and rising crime rates across the country, safety remains a priority for residents, with 85% rating safety an essential or very important focus area for the City in the next two years, with opportunities for improvement. Additionally, when asked about the importance of each of Grand Rapids’ strategic planning areas, nearly all residents (91%) prioritized ensuring that all people feel safe and are safe in the community. At least 8 in 10 respondents reported feeling safe in their neighborhoods and Grand Rapids’ downtown/commercial area during the day. Most respondents also felt safe from property crime (64%), violent crime (71%), and natural disasters (81%), similar to comparably sized communities within the custom benchmarks. However, only about 6 in 10 gave excellent or good reviews to the overall feeling of safety in Grand Rapids; this rating was similar to the City’s 2019 results and custom benchmark comparisons, but lower than the national average. In addition, police/sheriff services and crime prevention in Grand Rapids both received ratings that fell below the national and peer city benchmarks.

Residents have a mixed view of inclusivity in Grand Rapids.

• While 55% of all residents feel welcome, a lesser 46% feel the community does an excellent or good job in valuing and respecting diversity and 32% feel the community does an excellent or good job caring for its vulnerable residents. Those are lower ratings than the population and national benchmarks. Most other survey items related to inclusivity remained stable from Grand Rapids’ previous iteration of The NCS, but a few new questions suggest room for growth in this area. About half of respondents positively evaluated the community for making all residents feel welcome, on par with national and peer benchmark comparisons. Slightly fewer (46%) felt favorably about Grand Rapids attracting people from diverse backgrounds, similar to the national benchmark but lower than the peer city benchmark.

Grand Rapids’ economy remains strong despite challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic.

• Results relating to the economy in Grand Rapids tended to be positive and consistent with the City’s previous survey iteration, which is worth noting due to the economic challenges and impacts felt nationwide from the COVID-19 pandemic. About 6 in 10 residents gave high marks to Grand Rapids’ economic development and the overall economic health of the city, holding steady from 2019. Evaluations of Grand Rapids as a place to work and visit remained strong, with positive ratings from at least three-quarters of respondents. A similar proportion was pleased with the city’s overall quality of business and service establishments (81%), a slight increase over the previous survey, as well as with the variety of such establishments (74%). Employment opportunities in Grand Rapids and the vibrancy of the city’s downtown/commercial area both received higher-than-average reviews, with about 7 in 10 rating each as excellent or good. Shopping opportunities garnered positive ratings from two-thirds of residents, declining from 2019 but remaining on par with comparison communities across the nation.

Residents value the City’s utility infrastructure.

• When asked which aspects of the community the City should focus on in the next two years, 86% of residents identified the overall utility infrastructure as a priority. About 6 in 10 gave high marks to the quality of the utility infrastructure in Grand Rapids, on par with the national average. Garbage collection services retained strong ratings this year as well, with 8 in 10 residents offering excellent or good reviews. Positive ratings for the City’s storm water management (65%), drinking water (74%), and sewer services (79%) all improved slightly since 2019. Roughly two-thirds of residents provided favorable marks to the City’s utility billing services and regional power utilities, while fewer than half (43%) did the same for affordable high-speed internet access. All of these were similar to the national and custom benchmark comparisons. Most respondents who had interacted with City in the last six months were also satisfied with that contact – 83% were somewhat or very satisfied with their contact and interaction with the City. What’s more, nearly 7 in 10 Rated the overall customer service of Grand Rapids employees (police, receptionists, planners, etc.) as excellent or good.

Residents prioritize the natural environment, education and enrichment opportunities.

• Survey results also showed that residents place significant importance on the overall quality of their natural environment and parks and recreation opportunities. Residents rated these community facets positively for quality – 73% rated the overall quality of parks and recreation opportunities excellent or good, and 64% rated the overall quality of the natural environment excellent or good. Respondents further indicated that it was essential or very important that the community focus on these areas in the coming two years, including natural environment, scoring 84% – up from 79% in the last survey. Residents also voiced that emphasis be placed on overall opportunities for education, culture and the arts (81%) and overall quality of parks and recreation opportunities (77%).

Matthews told the City Commission that the survey was administered during the COVID-19 pandemic, a time of challenge for many local governments. While The NCS provides comparisons to national benchmarks, it is important to note that much of the benchmark data was collected prior to the pandemic. This may impact how Grand Rapids’ 2022 ratings compare to other communities’ ratings from the past five years. Trend data for Grand Rapids represent important comparison data and will be examined for improvements or declines.

In addition to being shared at today’s Committee of the Whole, results will be shared with City executives and departmental leadership, and will inform updates to the City’s Strategic Plan, currently in development, which could impact budget planning and proposals for Fiscal Year 2024.

The results also will be included in We Are GR quarterly newsletter and the City’s website while the key findings will be incorporated as part of in-Ward engagement and discussions in late July and August.

Original source can be found here.