City Services Satisfaction Survey 2003 City Services Satisfaction Survey | Page 4

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Arlington residents generally give the city a very positive rating as a place to live, in
terms of quality of life, with more than four out of five residents (81%) rating the city
“good” or “excellent.” However, this rating shows a downward trend over the past two
years, and a significant decline over the past year—from 89% in 2000 to 86% in 2001 to
81% in 2002. While this decline may be at least partly due to factors other than
perceptions of city services (for example, perceptions about the economy or city budget
problems, possible effects of 9-11 in some of the 2001 ratings, or other factors), it does
suggest a need to try to understand and address reasons for this decline, in order to
slow and reverse the trend.
Specific city services are generally rated very positively, with most services rated
excellent or good by 80% or more of residents. Consistent with previous years, the fire
department receives the highest ratings. Other services receiving very high overall
ratings include libraries, ambulance, garbage, parks, police and water services. Overall
rating of street maintenance continues to be relatively low, indicating that residents
continue to see much room for improvement in this area.
City facilities most likely to be used by residents or their household members were
parks (visited or used by 78% of resident households), libraries (67%), recreation
facilities (42%) and athletic facilities (42%). All city facilities generally received high
ratings from people who used them.
More than one-third of Arlington residents (36%) reported having visited the City of
Arlington’s website in the past year—about the same as a year ago but up significantly
over two years ago. Residents continue to feel it is important for the City to provide
citizen access to information by Internet (90% rate it as very or somewhat important).
In general, measures from this wave tend to be consistent with prior years' measures.
The following are some areas, however, which have shown declines or downward
trends, and might be factors in a decline in overall rating of Arlington as a place to live.
• Rating of the condition of major city-maintained streets declined from 2001.
• Rating of maintenance of street medians and right-of-ways down from 2000.
• Rating of code enforcement declined from 2001. (However, "code enforcement"
might not have a clear and consistent meaning for most residents).
• Rating of citizen access or input to government declined from 2001.
Decision Analyst, Inc.
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