Tempe residents’s overall satisfaction with city services is 33 percent above the national average at 90 percent, according to the city’s community attitude survey results for 2011.
The results, calculated from a survey of 803 residents, showed Tempe standing above the national average in 36 out of 39 service categories.
The results showed Tempe has an equal distribution of resources throughout various neighborhoods and improves its ratings each year.
The three categories where the city did not excel above the national average included enforcement of property maintenance codes, local fire service and landscape maintenance of streets and sidewalks.
After doing the same survey for five years, the city seems to be using the data to address issues and improve, Vice President of ETC Institute Christopher Tatham said at a Tempe City Council meeting March 8.
ETC Institute is the company in charge of conducting the survey and calculating results.
The three issues where Tempe does not meet the national average should be seen as an opportunity for improvement rather than as a failure, Tatham said.
“The only way that happens is if you clearly understand what the priorities for the community are, you invest well and you manage the expectations of your residents,” Tatham said.
Tempe was ranked second among the other cities evaluated by the ETC Institute and 4,000 city residents were surveyed nationwide.
“That’s not just a little bit better than the average, it’s phenomenally better than the average,” Tatham said. “What really impresses me … is you can just tell, the city really uses the data.”
The city has not only been able to sustain high ratings, but has managed to subtlety increase its ratings over the years, a surprising feat in a downturned economy, Tatham said. During the recession, most communities in the nation experienced a 2 to 3 percent decrease in overall satisfaction, he said.
“You’ve got to remember that you’ve done that during a period that’s been the worst economic period in the nation’s history since the Great Depression,” Tatham said. “Who would have thought in 2007 that you’d enter a difficult economic period like this and you’d actually have higher satisfaction ratings when you’re done?”
Tatham pointed to Tempe’s walking and biking paths to exemplify its improvement over the years. Four years ago, walking and biking paths were rated around the national average, but they were rated 18 percent higher for 2011 than in 2007 and are now setting a national standard, Tatham said.
Mayor Hugh Hallman pointed out a recent article published in Sunset Magazine, “Top 10 city bike rides,” which featured Tempe’s Rio Salado path, the newest biking path in the city.
“The goal is to make sure we’re allocating resources to things that are important and that we need to do a better job on as well,” Hallman said at the Tempe City Council meeting.
Last year was the first year the city closely scrutinized the data, Community Relations Manager Shelley Hearn said. This year, the city is holding workshops for the departments most affected by the data as an attempt to be proactive in improving the areas that aren’t receiving as high of a satisfaction rating, Hearn said.
Architecture senior Mackenzie Jones has lived in Tempe for four years and is pleased with Tempe’s services, she said.
“It doesn’t seem like there is a big issue about anything,” Jones said.
Marketing junior Colby Dawson has lived in Tempe for two and a half years and notices a difference between Tempe and other cities.
Although the city is still working on finding an identity, it is clean and relatively safe, Dawson said.
“They seem to be on top of things compared to other places,” Dawson said.
Reach the reporter at michelle.peirano@asu.edu
Follow us on Twitter or like us on Facebook. Click here to subscribe to the daily State Press email newsletter.
