City Services Satisfaction Survey 2011 City Services Satisfaction Survey | Page 17

Neighborhoods
Arlington residents continue to rate their neighborhoods moderately high in terms of
quality of life, similar to last year (79% “excellent” or “good” vs. 77% in 2009).
Residents’ perceptions of major neighborhood problems generally appear to be
consistent from the previous years. Car and residential burglaries and speeding in
neighborhoods are among the top concerns for residents, with over one-third reporting
each to be at least somewhat of a problem.
Compared to 2009, there are significant increases of concerns about neighborhood
problems. The areas with increasing concerns in city neighborhoods are:
Car burglaries
Stray animals
Weeds and unmowed grass.
Similar to last year, overall sense of safety in neighborhoods and in Arlington appears to
be positive in general. Neighborhoods in Arlington continue to be rated very safe for
walking alone during the day (very safe 66% or somewhat safe 28%), though much
lower at night, as only one out of three residents say they would feel very safe walking
alone in their neighborhood at night. Also, it is notable that rating of business areas
during the day has improved significantly since the last wave (from 89% very/somewhat
safe in 2009 to 95% in 2010), to about the same level of safety in neighborhoods.
Consistent with last year, the vast majority of residents (87%) report that neither they,
nor anyone in their household, were the victim of any crime in the past 12 months. Of
those who were crime victims, most (83%) reported the crime to the police.
Decision Analyst, Inc.
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