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HomeMy WebLinkAboutOshkoshCitizenSurveyFinalReport2018Executive Summary For the past 10 years, the City of Oshkosh has partnered with the Department of Public Administration at the University of Wisconsin – Oshkosh (UWO) to conduct the Oshkosh Citizen Survey. Since 2009, a sample of residents have been asked questions pertaining to their overall quality of life, feelings of safety, city services, and open-ended questions that relate to timely topics in the community. The purpose of this summary is to present the key results of this year’s survey, which was conducted between February and May of 2018. This report provides diverse perspectives and insights into issues of greatest importance to this sample of Oshkosh residents. 2018 OSHKOSH CITIZEN SURVEY REPORT Participant Overview A total of 489 residents participated in the survey: 227 completed the survey that they received in the mail, 70 filled out the survey in person when asked by graduate students throughout the City, and 192 completed the survey online. Charts 1 and 2 include the age range of respondents across the methods of data collection. In both the mail/field and online surveys, the greatest proportion of respondents were age 60 or older. However, the second highest age demographic for the mail/field surveys were 18-29 years old (18%), and the second highest age demographic that filled out the online survey were 50-59 years of age (26%). The mail and field survey respondents were more diverse than 2017 and more representative of Oshkosh as a whole (based on 2010 Census data). Chart 3 illustrates the differences. Compared to 2017, the percentage of mail and field survey respondents increased by:  +5.1% for residents that identify as People of Color  +16.5% for residents under the Age of 40  +15.8% for residents that make less than $25,000 in annual household income  +12.8% for residents who rent rather than own their homes  +17.4% for residents who have lived in Oshkosh for less than 20 years 18-29 18% 30-39 13% 40-49 11% 50-59 18% 60+ 40% 1. Mail/Field Respondents by Age 18-29 5%30-39 17% 40-49 22%50-59 26% 60+ 30% 2. Online Respondents by Age 0.8 14 0 6.6 22.9 5.9 31.5 15.8 19.4 40.3 11.1 39.3 28 44.9 30.8 0 10 20 30 40 50 People of Color Age < 40 Income < $25k Rent < 20 Years in Oshkosh 3. Demographic Increases: 2017 vs. 2018 Mail/Field Respondents (%) 2017 2018 2010 Census 2 Quality of Life Overall, residents responded positively to the Overall Quality of Life question: 83% reported a positive quality of life, with 18% answering Excellent and 65% answering Good. Results are shown in Chart 4. This is an increase from 2017, in which just 59% of participants reported positive results. Chart 5 shows responses when participants were asked to rate Oshkosh on 11 statements. The chart represents the data grouped into one of three categories: Positive (responses of Excellent or Good), Negative (responses of Fair or Poor), and No Opinion. It shows that respondents expressed an overall level of satisfaction. Of the 11 questions, 8 received a majority positive response rate (> 50%). The following received the least positive responses: Oshkosh as a place to start a business (39%), as a place to retire (41%), and as a place accepting of diversity (47%). 18% 65% 15% 2% 4. Overall Quality of Life Excellent Good Fair Poor 78%69%62%68% 35% 70% 57%49%54%49% 62% 24% 32%38%27% 39% 24%42% 41% 44%47% 38% 0%1%1% 6% 28% 9% 3% 14% 2%4%2% 0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100% 5. Quality of Life Statements: Positive, Negative, or No Opinion Positive Negative No Opinion 3 Feelings of Safety Residents were asked: “Please rate how safe or unsafe you feel” in five categories listed in Chart 6. Overall, residents responded that they felt safe in Oshkosh. This was especially true when residents were responding to how they felt in their homes and outside during the day. Residents felt the least safe after dark in commercial areas and to a lesser extent walking in their neighborhoods after dark. Any response other than Very Safe or Safe was included as a Less than Safe response. To better understand who feels Less than Safe in commercial areas after dark, age was considered. As shown in the graph below, 46% of residents in the 18-29 age group were shown to feel unsafe in commercial areas, the highest of all age groups. The second highest proportion included residents 60 or older (33%). 92 94 63 90 53 9 7 37 10 47 0 20 40 60 80 100 In your home In your neighborhood during the day Walking alone in your neighborhood after dark In commercial/business areas during the day In commercial/busines areas after dark Very Safe/Safe Less than Safe 13 15 18 12 28 46 11 25 23 33 0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50 18-29 30-39 40-49 50-59 60+ Neighborhood Commercial Areas 4 Use of City Services Participants were asked questions about their frequency of use, perceptions of quality, and overall importance concerning 28 services. Those services were grouped into the following six areas: 1. Public Safety: Police, Fire Department, Ambulance (3) 2. Public Works: Leaf & Brush Pickup, Recycling Services, Trash Services, Sidewalk System, Ice & Snow Removal, Traffic Signs & Signals, Streetlight Maintenance, and Storm Water Management (8) 3. Community Services: Neighborhood Revitalization, Oshkosh Public Museum, Oshkosh Media, Oshkosh Public Library, and Senior Services (5) 4. Economic Development: Assistance to Businesses, Quality of Housing, Permits & Inspections, Property Maintenance, and Planning & Zoning (5) 5. Parks: Children’s Amusement Area, Leach Amphitheater, Menominee Park Zoo, Pollock Water Park (4) 6. Transportation: Biking & Pedestrian Trails, City Parking Facilities, and GO Transit System (3) The first set of questions specifically addressed frequency of use. Residents were asked to answer if they use each service Daily, Weekly, Monthly, Seasonally, Annually, and Never. Results are shown below in Table 1. Table 1. Frequency of Use: All City Services Service Daily Weekly Monthly Seasonally Annually Never Police 5% 0% 3% 5% 25% 63% Fire Department 2% 0% 0% 1% 10% 86% Ambulance 1% 0% 0% 1% 9% 88% Leaf and Brush Pick-up 1% 4% 8% 58% 7% 22% Recycling Services 5% 63% 25% 1% 1% 5% Trash Collection Services 5% 86% 5% 0% 0% 4% Sidewalk System 53% 19% 9% 7% 3% 10% Ice and Snow Removal 11% 5% 1% 69% 1% 14% Traffic Signs and Signals 91% 5% 1% 1% 0% 3% Streetlight Maintenance 81% 5% 2% 2% 2% 8% Storm Water Maintenance 42% 7% 4% 31% 3% 13% Neighborhood Revitalization 5% 2% 6% 4% 13% 71% Oshkosh Public Museum 1% 2% 10% 15% 40% 33% Oshkosh Media 12% 19% 13% 5% 10% 41% Oshkosh Public Library 3% 21% 29% 6% 19% 22% Senior Services 3% 3% 5% 4% 8% 76% Assistance to Businesses 1% 4% 3% 1% 4% 88% Quality of Housing 11% 2% 4% 3% 10% 70% Permits and Inspections 2% 1% 3% 6% 30% 59% Property Maintenance 6% 3% 5% 7% 12% 67% Planning and Zoning 2% 2% 3% 3% 15% 75% Children’s Amusement Area 1% 1% 5% 28% 14% 52% Leach Amphitheater 0% 2% 3% 44% 17% 35% Menominee Park Zoo 0% 3% 6% 44% 21% 27% Pollock Water Park 0% 2% 0% 23% 8% 68% Biking & Pedestrian Trails 7% 15% 7% 37% 6% 27% City Parking Facilities 7% 20% 24% 15% 10% 23% Go Transit System 4% 5% 3% 4% 10% 76% 5 Quality of City Services The second set of questions focused on the quality of city services. Citizen sentiment as it relates to the quality and importance of various city services is next described. Questions relating to quality asks respondents to identify whether the service is Excellent, Good, Fair, Poor, or No Opinion. Results from this question provide city officials with insight into areas that citizens feel are high or low in quality. The top ten highest quality ratings are presented in Chart 8. Note that Menominee Park Zoo and Leaf & Brush Pick-Up tied for the 10th spot at 29%. Chart 9 presents the ten services with the lowest quality ratings, which were reported as follows: City officials and members of management can use this information to determine whether and to what extent benefits of the services are being effectively delivered to the public and decide whether program design changes will improve the quality of services being provided. The information can also serve as the basis for reprioritization of services and commitment of public funding to strengthen programming having greater public impacts. 54 49 47 46 42 40 37 32 31 29 29 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 Trash Collection Services Oshkosh Public Library Recycling Services Fire Department Ambulance Police Leach Amphitheater Oshkosh Public Museum Traffic Signs & Signals Menominee Park Zoo Leaf & Brush Pick-up 8. Services with Highest Excellent Quality Ratings 18 18 17 12 12 10 9 8 8 8 0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20 Permits & Inspections Planning and Zoning Property Maintenance Neighborhood Revitalization Oshkosh Media Snow & Ice Removal Quality of Housing Assistance to Businesses Streetlights/Maintenance Storm Water Management 9. Services with Highest Poor Quality Ratings 6 Importance of City Services Finally, respondents were asked to rank how important city services are to them. The survey question asks respondents to identify whether the service is Very Important, Somewhat Important, Somewhat Unimportant, Not Important, or No Opinion. Chart 10 shows how services were ranked by quality and importance. The graph illustrates the service as Positive Quality (rated Excellent or Good) compared to the percentage regarded as Very Important. By graphing both quality and importance, this chart shows the gap between what the public expects to have (i.e. Importance) versus what they believe exists (i.e. Quality). 10. Importance vs. Quality: All City Services Based on this chart, it is recommended that services with the largest gaps between quality and importance are addressed first. These are reviewed in the following order in Table 2, with the highest to lowest gap: Table 2. Top 5 Gaps in Quality versus Importance of Services Service Very Important Positive Quality Gap 7 Open-Ended Questions The open-ended questions focused on recruitment and retention of young professionals, neighborhood redevelopment, redesign of the Oshkosh Avenue Corridor, and budgeting priorities. This section presents an analysis of written responses to each question. It offers and a summary in two ways: 1) Word Clouds: All responses were analyzed using Wordle, which provides a visual “word cloud” image of the most frequently written words. The most frequently used words are the largest, and the size of words gets smaller as their frequency of use decreases; and 2) Coded Themes: all responses were reviewed and coded into overarching themes. The overall percentage of each theme is provided in tables below. In addition, the top three themes are briefly described in this section as potential recommendations. The themes were ranked by total number of responses and overall feasibility. Decision-makers can consider these ranked themes when discussing actions to address each question. 1. What could the City do to keep and attract young professionals, such as having a vibrant downtown, quality neighborhoods, creative gathering spaces, mentoring and networking opportunities, etc.? A total of 158 participants responded to this question. Of those comments, the word cloud shows some of the most frequently mentioned words are young, people, city, quality, new, professionals, and Oshkosh. These common words are to be expected. Additional words that can provide insight into what areas the City can focus on to keep and attract young professionals emphasize: downtown, housing, events, businesses, parks, music, family, activities, and community. Table 3 presents the themes that emerged from the responses. The percentage of “Coded Responses” that support each theme are provided. Table 3. Young Professional Question Themes Theme Responses Housing and Culture: Branding: city’s image of social consciousness and responsibility. Many respondents wanted to see more of the various Events as Assets: Oshkosh can use its “Wisconsin’s Event City” niche as an to area events are not being made by young people to show that Oshkosh is Wisconsin’s Event City; the city 8 2. What general area(s) of Oshkosh do you feel need the most attention in terms of investment, rehabilitation, or redevelopment? Please provide suggestions below using neighborhood or street names. What do you think needs to be done? A total of 197 participants responded to this question. Several common words appeared most frequently, which is to be expected (e.g. street, side, area). In addition, the following key words were more often mentioned by respondents: river, north, east, roads, arena, and campus. The street names mentioned most often included: Main, Jackson, Bowen, Oregon, Ceape, and Murdock. Several respondents also mentioned the Pioneer Inn. Table 4 presents the themes that emerged from the responses. The percentage of “Coded Responses” that support each theme are provided. Table 4. Neighborhood Redevelopment Question Themes Theme Responses Prioritizing Needs: Neighborhood Revitalization Capital Improvement Program: Road Maintenance: conversation would be to help residents understand the city’s met 3. The City is looking at redoing the Oshkosh Avenue Corridor from I-41 to Fox River (e.g. streets, sidewalks, medians, trails, intersections, bike lanes, landscaping, etc.) What would you like to see designed in this area? A total of 181 participants responded. The words most often mentioned included: bike, lanes, traffic, bridge, trails, landscaping, roundabouts, trees, walking, and park. In terms of street names, the intersection of Sawyer Avenue was often mentioned, such as the following comment: “The intersection of Sawyer Ave. should be improved to a traditional 4 leg intersection. A boulevard would help calm traffic and improve the safety of this corridor.” No table of themes is provided for this question as analysis was not conducted to the same degree for this question in 2018. 9 4. The City is interested in any suggestions that you have regarding budget priorities. If you were the person deciding where to allocate tax dollars, what ONE service would you maintain funding for above all others? On the other hand, what is the FIRST service you would reduce spending on? A total of 234 participants responded to this question. As shown in the word cloud, the key words that were most often mentioned included: reduce, spending, services, fire, police, roads, streets, water, maintain, parks, need, tax, service, snow, and safety. When reviewing the results, responses that corresponded to increasing or decreasing funding for specific areas were coded accordingly. However, most responses were confusing and did not address the question. Those responses were coded to the three themes shown in Table 5. Table 5. Budgeting Question Themes Theme Responses Revise Survey: “other”. Having better clarity in the survey questions or specific options for citizens to choose from would Town Halls: Participatory Budgeting: reduce maintain 10 Notes The information included in this executive summary was extracted from the extended Oshkosh Citizen Survey Report. The analysis was prepared by Master of Public Administration (MPA) students at the University of Wisconsin – Oshkosh. Students in two of the MPA 721 Public Policy Analysis courses led the analyses. The coordination of survey data and reporting was led by Dr. Samantha June Larson, supported by graduate research assistants Menna Garedew and Geoffrey Kumah, and made possible by the assistance of undergraduate students Monica Miller and Jessica Rosga. Any additional questions can be directed to Dr. Larson at larsonsj@uwosh.edu.