Survey shows positive city ratings, concerns about growth

Most Bellingham citizens enjoy a good quality of life in Bellingham and believe city government is doing a good job meeting community needs, but they are concerned about growth, according to a recent scientific poll conducted by the city.

City officials commissioned the survey in June 2006, assessing citizens' priorities and satisfaction with city services. More than 500 Bellingham residents completed a 15-minute telephone survey conducted June 8-12, 2006. Opinion research experts presented survey results to the Bellingham City Council on July 10.

Chief among the survey findings:

• Quality of life in Bellingham is good;
• Respondents are optimistic and believe Bellingham is headed in the right direction;
• Their major concern is growth and its effects;
• City government is doing a good job meeting community needs, and provides about the right amount of service;
• Respondents want to be informed and involved, and they receive information about city government from many different places.

Don McDonough, principle of Evans/McDonough, presented the survey results and provided analysis and comparisons to regional public opinion research, as well as a similar survey conducted for the City of Bellingham.

Purpose of surveying:

• Provide information to help city officials make budget decisions;
• Identify satisfaction with city service delivery;
• Determine levels of support and priority for various services;
• One of many ways to involve the public in decision making;
• Help determine if vocal individuals and groups represent broad-based opinions and perceptions
• Establish benchmarking data and identify trends over time.

Survey details:

• These findings are drawn from a telephone survey of 510 registered voters in the City of Bellingham. 
• The overall margin of error for this survey is ± 4.4 percentage points.
• Interviews were conducted from June 8 through June 12, 2006.
• Where relevant, 2006 data is compared with the baseline survey, in which 513 interviews were conducted from June 17 through June 23, 2004.

Documents:

• 2006 Survey key findings presented to Bellingham City Council July 10, 2006 (PDF)
• Complete 2006 Service Priorities and Customer Satisfaction Survey (PDF)
• Complete 2004 Service Priorities and Customer Satisfaction Survey (PDF)

Updated: July 21, 2006

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