City Services Satisfaction Survey 2008 City Services Satisfaction Survey | Page 23

Neighborhoods
Arlington residents continue to rate their neighborhoods positively in terms of quality of
life (77% “excellent” or “good”). However, the rating fell for the second year in a row
dipping to the lowest point to date.
The main aspect that determines residents’ perception of the quality of life in their
neighborhood is the feeling of safety, consistent with the city ratings. Thirty nine
percent of residents rated feeling of safety as the most important. Feeling of safety
includes feeling of safety in your neighborhood, peaceful/quiet, and crime rate. Sense
of community was next with 20 percent rating it as most important.
Neighborhood
appearance rated third with a rating of 8 percent. Neighborhood appearance included
physical condition/appearance of residential property, cleanliness, condition of streets,
adequacy of street lighting, trees, physical condition/appearance of shops and stores,
and condition of sidewalks. Convenient location was rated by eight percent.
Educational environment, economy, management of traffic, and availability of
entertainment all received 3 percent or less mention.
Car burglaries, condition of major streets and residential burglaries are perceived as the
biggest problems facing city neighborhoods. Among other areas viewed as a major or
at least somewhat of a problem by more than 20 percent of Arlington residents are:
dilapidated fences, condition of residential streets, street lighting, property
cleanliness/maintenance, stray animals, violent crime, neighborhood gangs, illegal drug
sales, trash and litter, oversized vehicles in neighborhoods, and weeds and unmowed
grass.
Residents’ perceptions of neighborhood problems generally appear to be consistent
with measures from the previous years. Condition of major and residential streets and
car/residential burglaries remain among the top five concerns for residents.
Neighborhoods in Arlington continue to be rated very safe for walking alone during the
day (very safe 65%, somewhat safe 30%), though much lower at night, as less than one
out of three residents say they would feel very safe walking alone in their neighborhood
at night. Similarly, respondents feel very safe walking alone in business areas during
the day (very safe 52%, somewhat safe 40%), but again, dropping at night with only
twelve percent say they would feel very safe at night.
Decision Analyst, Inc.
23