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Results of 2009 Community Attitudes Survey

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	City of Tigard 13125 SW Hall Blvd. Tigard, Oregon 97223	Press Release December 2, 2009
For Immediate Release
Contact:	Kent Wyatt City of Tigard 503-718-2809 kent@tigard-or.gov

Community Survey Executive Summary

Community Survey Results

Satisfaction and Issue Priorities

The 2009 Community Attitudes Survey was administered to a representative sample of 400 residents age 18 and older in the City of Tigard.

Today, residents of Tigard are widely satisfied with the city as a place to live. A city's safety, streets, utilities and neighborhoods are perceived most important in terms of desirable characteristics of a place to live, and Tigard residents are most likely to say "residents feel safe" and "streets and utilities such as water and sewer are provided and well maintained" are excellent descriptions of Tigard.

When comparing residents' assigned importance ratings of city characteristics with their perceptions of how well those characteristics currently describe Tigard, we find the City falling short of residents' expectations in all categories, albeit only narrowly in most cases. Significant deficits for the City today are in the areas of safety, streets/utilities and neighborhoods. Although these three characteristics are rated highest as descriptions of Tigard, their importance scores are even higher overall, resulting in a net deficit versus reality.

On other issues:

Safety: Residents feel more safe walking in their own neighborhoods than they do in downtown, although a majority still feel safe walking downtown (84% own neighborhood vs. 58% downtown).

Open spaces and the environment: Residents agree with three statements regarding open spaces and the environment:

"Tigard's rivers and streams are important resources worth protecting" (94% agree, 4% disagree)
"The City should take the lead in preserving the remaining open spaces within Tigard" (85% agree, 13% disagree)
"I would support regulations to protect existing trees in the City" (80% agree, 17% disagree)

Growth: Just 39% agree that "to accommodate future growth, the City should encourage greater residential density than exists today in both new and existing neighborhoods" and 56% disagree with that statement. There is no consensus from respondents as to where most of the future population growth should occur, although widening 99W is the leading traffic solution.

Contact with the City: One-in-four residents have had contact with a city employee or elected official in the past year. The most frequently contacted departments include the police (28%) and public works/streets/sewer/water (24%). Overall, residents' experiences were widely positive and more than 90% agree that Tigard city employees are courteous, fair and honest, with a significant percentage who "strongly" agree.