Tempe earns high marks in residents' survey

Tempe is undergoing unprecedented turmoil with light-rail construction, growing congestion and the introduction of high-rises in downtown. In spite of all the hand-wringing, a survey released Friday shows Tempeans are far happier with their city than residents in other mid-sized communities.

City residents said it's a good place to live and raise children. They even gave kudos to bulk trash pick-up. Tempe's overall satisfaction is 88 percent - 35 percent higher than the national average.

The survey by Kansas-based ETC Institute didn't find a single area where Tempe was below the national average.

Still, residents had complaints. Only 57 percent were satisfied with how the city planned for growth. And about 29 percent weren't happy with alley maintenance in what was one of the lower-scoring categories.

While city-funded surveys sometimes gloss over problems and boast high satisfaction rates, ETC senior vice president Chris Tatham said Tempe didn't rig the poll with "softball" questions. ETC sometimes finds dismal results, Tatham said, using the same questions it asked Tempe residents.

"It's very rare that the overall satisfaction of city service is over 70 percent, let alone Tempe's of 88 percent," Tatham said. "It was pretty phenomenal."

Residents gave high marks to public safety - a 76 percent satisfaction rate. Yet 63 percent said the city's biggest emphasis in the future should be on police services. That's twice as high as the next priority, neighborhoods.

Other surveys typically show concerns about safety, said Shelly Hearn, Tempe's community relations manager. "People will always think that's the most important thing to them personally," she said.

The $23,000 survey included maps plotting how residents in different parts of the city responded to each question. ETC mailed 2,400 surveys and got back about 1,000.

Tempe will use the maps to show where it can improve services, City Manager Charlie Meyer said. For example, police can interview people in areas where they are more concerned about traffic enforcement to identify specific problems they've had. The survey also allowed residents to write in responses, which generated gripes about too few police, how the city plans for growth, new buildings downtown being too tall and rundown properties. ETC's report to the city runs nearly 200 pages. Some highlights:

The highest levels of dissatisfaction include 29 percent with alley conditions, 19 percent with private property maintenance, 16 percent with responsiveness to code enforcement complaints, 16 percent with enforcement of traffic laws, 13 percent with feeling safe and 8 percent with condition of streets.

The single highest rate of dissatisfaction was for alley maintenance. In numerous maps that plot satisfaction rates in specific parts, the only high level of dissatisfaction was for alley conditions. Residents in a square mile around Arizona State University were unhappy, as were two areas south of U.S. 60.

South Tempe residents were more satisfied with upkeep of private property than residents elsewhere.

Residents in nearly every Tempe area were satisfied, but not very satisfied, with the city's appearance. Only in a square mile area around ASU were people less than satisfied, falling into a "neutral" classification.

Residents in nearly all areas south of Apache Boulevard said they felt safe. Residents didn't feel as safe around ASU, downtown and in some neighborhoods west and north of downtown.

Residents gave very high marks to trash collection, bulk trash pick-up and recycling. They have an 88 percent satisfaction rating for water services, setting a record in that category among cities ETC has surveyed.

Tempe's last survey was a less comprehensive phone survey conducted in 2000. The city plans to conduct surveys of this type every year.