City Services Satisfaction Survey 2004 City Services Satisfaction Survey | Page 4

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Consistently, Arlington residents give the city a very positive rating as a place to live
overall, in terms of quality of life (82% rated “good” or “excellent”). The overall rating of
quality of life in Arlington remains about the same as last year, but still has declined
significantly from the highest rating of 89% in 2000.
City Services. Specific city services generally receive high overall ratings, with about
half of the services rated receiving a top-two rating (“good” or “excellent”) of 80% or
higher. Consistent with previous years, the fire department continues to receive the
highest ratings among city services, followed by libraries, water services, ambulance,
parks, garbage, police, and recycling collection. Services receiving the lowest ratings
are street maintenance (which has traditionally been rated low) and management of
traffic flow (a new measure added in 2003), which suggest that residents see much
room for improvement in these areas.
Overall ratings of city services are generally similar to previous years, but several areas
showed significant improvement from 2002. Among areas showing improvement were
fire services, water services, recycling collection, code enforcement, and park & ride
services. The only area of notable decline was athletic facilities, which decreased only
slightly in 2003 but continued a three-year decline. Other specific ratings showing
significant positive changes from 2002 include:
• Rating of visibility of police increased from 2002.
• Rating of community education services provided by the fire department
increased from 2002.
• Rating of medians and right-of-ways increased from 2002.
• Mention of “too much construction” as a problem declined from 2002.
City Facilities. City facilities most likely to be used by residents or their household
members are parks (visited or used by 81% of resident households), libraries (69%) and
recreation centers (40%). Most city facilities generally receive high ratings from people
who used them, while the Arlington Animal Services Center and Arlington Municipal
Court are seen as having some room for improvement in various measures.
Decision Analyst, Inc.
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