City Auditor LaVonne Griffin-Valade released the results of the 2010 Community Survey. The report surveyed thousands of Portlanders who provided their perceptions of the quality of a variety of City services. The purpose of this report is to provide the public and Council with valuable information regarding resident satisfaction with the City of Portland services.

The survey was sent to 9,800 randomly selected households this past summer, and 3,663 valid surveys – or 39 percent – were returned.

According to the survey, satisfaction with public safety services remained positive. 80 percent of residents felt positively about 9-1-1 services, and 87 percent of residents were positive about fire and emergency services. 

According to the Auditor’s Office, survey highlights include:  

• Citywide, 81 percent of residents felt positively about their city and 82 percent felt positively about their neighborhood.  This is relatively consistent with ratings from five years ago. 
• Neighborhood livability ratings, however, varied by coalition, from 95 percent of respondents rating positively in the Southwest coalition to 67 percent in the East coalition.
• Residents’ ratings of the overall job that City government is doing continued to decline.  Five years ago, 63 percent of residents rated City government’s overall job performance as good or very good, compared to 52 percent of residents providing that rating in 2010.  
• Resident ratings of street maintenance and smoothness declined in the past five years – with 43 percent rating maintenance good or very good in 2006, compared to 38 percent in 2010.  In 2006, 58 percent of residents rated street smoothness good or very good, while 52 percent felt that way in 2010. 
• Ratings of speeding vehicles in neighborhoods became worse in 2010, with 35 percent of residents feeling positive about speed on neighborhood streets – an 11 percentage point decrease from five years ago.
• The majority of residents (62 percent) drove alone to work, while 12 percent took public transit.  Considering all trips (commuting and non-commuting), two-thirds of residents (66 percent) drove alone, and 6 percent used public transit. 

Download the entire report at http://www.portlandonline.com/auditor/index.cfm?c=51639&a=325076.

  Portland Fire & Rescue 

  We Respond: Always Ready, Always There

  December 4, 2010