[Archived] City of Alexandria Releases 2009 Community Survey Results

October 13, 2009

News Highlights

• 1,000 Alexandria residents surveyed about their quality of life, satisfaction with community services, and other local issues.
• Ratings for quality and value of City services remain high, and have continued to increase from 2004 and 2006 community surveys.
• Most respondents (97.6%) rated overall quality of life in Alexandria as being either “very good” or “good” (compared with 97.3% in 2006 and 97.2% in 2004)

More Information

• Report on 2009 Community Survey Results 
• Presentation on 2009 Community Survey Results 

The City of Alexandria announced the results of the 2009 Community Survey at the City Council meeting on Tuesday, October 13. The Center for Research and Public Policy (CRPP) conducted a comprehensive telephone survey of 1,000 Alexandria residents to ask them about their quality of life, satisfaction with community services, and other local issues. This 2009 survey tracks some of the results that were collected from similar surveys that CRPP conducted in 2004 and 2006.

The survey’s key findings include the following results:

• 97.6% of respondents rated the overall quality of life in Alexandria as being either “very good” (48.4%) or “good” (49.2%). 1.8% of respondents indicated that the overall quality of life in Alexandria was either “poor” (1%) or “very poor” (0.8%).
• 85.6% of respondents stated that their overall quality of life was “better” or “remained good.” Only 10.6% suggested that their overall quality of life “remained poor” or became “worse” than it was two years ago.
• 88.6% of respondents reported that services provide by the City meet their expectations either “always” or “most of the time.”
• 85.3% of respondents rated the value of services provided by the City compared to the taxes they pay as “very good” or “good.”
• The most frequently cited issues of resident concern were “traffic” (17.2%), “taxes” (13.8%) and “poor school systems” (8.7%).
• 69.1% of respondents said that the City should keep services and taxes at about the level where they are now; 12.6% said the City should decrease taxes even if it might have to decrease service as a result; and 12% said the City should increase services even if it might have to increase taxes as a result.

The City of Alexandria intends to use the results of the survey to set priorities and make decisions about the services the City provides to the community. During the challenging budget years ahead, the information helps identify the best tools for communicating and informing residents about the issues and priorities that matter the most to them.

For more information, contact Bernard Caton, Legislative Director, at 703.746.3963