Sugar Land, Texas – The results of Sugar Land’s 2020 Citizen Satisfaction Survey show that 98 percent of respondents rated the city as an “excellent” or “good” place to live and 97 percent rated the city as “excellent” or “good” place to raise children.
The Citizen Satisfaction Survey measures and assesses citizen satisfaction with the delivery of major city services and helps set community priorities for improved services and long-range planning. Core areas surveyed included public safety (police, fire and emergency management), public works/utilities (streets and transportation, code enforcement and water service), parks and recreation, communications, quality of life, overall city services and satisfaction with city services for dollars paid.
Sugar Land rated the same as, or above, the United States average in 79 of the 80 areas that were assessed. The city rated 40 percent over the Texas average for the value received for city taxes and fees and 36 percent above the Texas average for the overall quality of city services.
“There's a great deal to be proud of in this report,” said City Manager Michael W. Goodrum. “The intent of the survey is to identify areas where we can improve. As an example, we are already using the results to aggressively pursue the next phase of sidewalk rehabilitation earlier than anticipated. We have invested more than $11 million in drainage projects in fiscal year 2021, with an additional $36.5 million planned over the next four years.”
Excerpts from the survey follow:
- Ninety-four percent of those surveyed indicated they were “very satisfied” or “satisfied” with the overall quality of life in their community, a figure well above the United States and Texas averages.
- Ninety-five percent believe Sugar Land is an “excellent” or “good” place they are proud to call home.
- Ninety-eight percent of the respondents said they feel “very safe” or “safe” when walking in their neighborhood during the day. Overall, 93 percent of respondents who had an opinion indicated they feel “very safe” or “safe” in their community.
- The major categories of city services that had the highest levels of satisfaction were the quality of fire and ambulance service (97 percent), the overall quality of police service (93 percent), overall efforts by city government to ensure the community is prepared for emergencies (91 percent), the overall quality of garbage and recycling services (90 percent) and the overall quality of parks and recreation programs and facilities (87 percent).
- Seventy percent indicated they are “very satisfied” or “satisfied” with the value received for city taxes and fees. This was 40 percent above the state average. When neutral responses are included, the overall satisfaction rating for value received for city taxes and fees increases to 95 percent.
- While the survey results were overwhelmingly positive, data suggests the city should focus resources on continued efforts to address drainage and mobility -- the only items identified as a high priority in ETC Institute’s importance-satisfaction analysis.
“The surveys were completed in the fall during an unprecedented year that included a pandemic, economic hardships, tropical storm threats, regional flooding and more,” said Goodrum. “These results are particularly impressive given the challenges we faced last year.”
The city engaged ETC Institute to conduct the demographically representative survey. Established in 1999, ETC is nationally-recognized for its research and is located in Olathe, Kansas. Since its founding, ETC has surveyed more than 2 million people in more than 900 cities and 49 states including Houston, Austin, Dallas, Fort Worth, San Antonio, Kansas City, Oklahoma City, San Francisco and many more.
ETC Institute guarantees the results of Sugar Land’s 2020 Citizen Satisfaction Survey are statistically representative of the city.
“The benchmarking section of this report is probably the most impressive,” said Ryan Murray, of ETC Institute. “City leaders have done a great job of ensuring overall satisfaction among residents is very high.”
View the complete report at www.sugarlandtx.gov/css.