BACKGROUND
To help inform the deliberations with broad-scale perspectives from residents, Roseville participated for the first time in the National Community Survey (NCS) in January and February 2021. The NCS, conducted in 500 cities in nearly every state in the country, is done in partnership with the International City/County Management Association. The City participated in order to benchmark and track satisfaction levels and priorities over time in our community on a bi-annual basis. This will inform the City’s strategic plan, budget, and shed light on perceptions about city and community services.
More than 3,000 surveys were mailed at random to residents, evenly distributed throughout the five districts. The survey was available in English and Spanish. All mailings contained paragraphs in both languages instructing participants on how to complete the survey in their preferred language.
About 1% of the 3,000 mailed invitations or surveys were returned because the household address was vacant or the postal service was unable to deliver the survey as addressed. Of the remaining 2,972 households that received the invitations to participate, 476 completed the survey, providing an overall response rate of 16%. This provides a level of confidence of 95% and a margin of error of plus or minus 5%.
After the survey that was distributed randomly had closed, the same survey was then opened to the entire community to anyone who wanted to provide input. A survey link was provided on the City website, newsletters, and social media. Those results are included separately in the NCS report.
Key highlights from Polco’s summary of the National Community Survey
Most of Roseville rankings were higher than both the national average (of 500 cities) and the custom benchmark (of 50 cities nationally of similar size of 100,000-200,000 population). Many rankings were in the top 10 nationally and several were No. 1 in the nation.
- Roseville received the No. 1 ranking as a place to live, for its reputation and image, quality of utility infrastructure, electric utility, wastewater utility, and storm water management.
- No. 2 in the custom benchmark for quality of services provided by the City, overall customer service provided by City employees, and overall economic health.
- In addition, 95% of residents rated Roseville as an excellent or good place to raise children and 83% as a place to retire, both higher than national and custom and benchmarks.
- Overall quality of parks and recreation opportunities was also higher than the custom benchmark at 94% rating as excellent or good, along with recreation centers, availability of paths and walking trails, preservation of open space. 92% gave public library services high marks.
- In terms of safety, 91% rated their overall feeling of safety in Roseville as good or excellent, and the rating jumped to 97% for how safe residents feel in their neighborhood during the day. Fire services received a 97% rating for excellent or good quality.
- Looking at community design, Roseville ranked higher than the custom benchmark for overall appearance, well-designed neighborhoods, overall design and layout of residential and commercial areas, quality of new development, and for both well-planned residential and commercial growth.
- In the areas of mobility, Roseville ranked above the custom benchmark for ease of parking, ease of travel by bicycle, street lighting, street cleaning, sidewalk maintenance, traffic signal maintenance, traffic signal timing, bus or transit services, and street repair.
- The two areas across dozens of data points where Roseville ranked lower than the benchmark were using bus, rail or other public transportation instead of driving, and how important respondents felt it was in the next two years for the Roseville community to focus on residents’ connection and engagement with their community.
Government performance was an area in which Roseville received among the highest rankings in the nation. Specifically for the value of services for taxes paid to Roseville, the overall direction that Roseville is taking, generally acting in the best interest of the community, treating residents with respect, treating all residents fairly, being honest, being open and transparent to the public, overall confidence in Roseville government, information residents about issues facing the community, and the job Roseville government does at welcoming resident involvement.
Breaking it down a little further[
Roseville residents enjoy a high quality of life, and the City's utilities contribute to the high marks.
Residents value the quality of life in Roseville, with 9 in 10 giving positive reviews to the City as a place to live and the overall quality of life in the community; these ratings were higher than the national benchmarks. Around 90% of respondents indicated they were either very likely or somewhat likely to remain in Roseville for the next five years and to recommend living in the City to someone who asks. The overall image or reputation of Roseville also received exceptional marks from 93% of community members and ranked above the national benchmark.
In addition to the high indicators of the quality of life, Roseville residents gave exceptional marks to utilities in the community. 97% of community members responded that the overall quality of the utility infrastructure was excellent or good, while 92% stated similarly for storm water management, putting both items much higher than the national benchmarks. Over 90% of respondents gave positive marks to utility billing, drinking water, garbage collection, sewer services, and power (electric and/or gas) utility, all of which were higher than the national benchmark. Affordable high-speed internet access receive positive scores from about two-thirds of residents.
Community members are pleased with their local government.
Residents gave outstanding and above-average marks to almost every aspect of government performance in Roseville. About 9 in 10 respondents gave high marks to the overall quality of services provided by the City of Roseville as well as the overall customer service provided by Roseville employees. At least three-quarters of residents assigned positive reviews to the City treating residents fairly and with respect, being honest, and generally acting in the best interest of the community. About 77% of residents rated the value of services for the taxes paid to the City and the overall direction of Roseville as excellent or good. Being open and transparent to the public and the overall confidence in Roseville government scored similarly high marks (73% and 72%, respectively). Over 65% of respondents also gave excellent or good marks to the City informing residents about issues facing the community and the job Roseville does at welcoming resident involvement.
Resident's praise Roseville's economy.
Roseville’s economy was an important and positively rated facet of the community. The City as a place to work scored much higher than the national benchmark, with 88% of respondents rating it excellent or good. About 9 in 10 residents gave high marks to the overall economic health of Roseville, and the quality of economic development and employment opportunities also received higher-than-average ratings from at least 7 in 10 residents. In addition, the City’s shopping opportunities scored much higher than the benchmark (93% excellent or good). At least 8 in 10 respondents positively rated both the overall quality (93%) and variety (87%) of business and service establishments in Roseville.
Inclusivity and engagement scored on par with the nation in Roseville, but respondents indicated strong support for addressing homelessness in the community.
Items relating to inclusivity and engagement, like the sense of civic/community pride and acceptance of the community toward people of diverse backgrounds, were rated excellent or good by about 7 in 10 residents. Similar marks were given to the opportunities to volunteer and to participate in social events and activities. Community members also gave positive scores to the job the City does at making residents feel welcome (80%), valuing/respecting residents from diverse backgrounds (72%), and attracting people from diverse backgrounds (61%).
About 6 in 10 community members indicated that Roseville does an excellent or good job at taking care of vulnerable residents, including the homeless population. When asked other questions pertaining to addressing homelessness in the community, residents expressed strong overall support. While only 23% of residents indicated that homeless is a major or moderate problem in their neighborhood, 65% rated it a major or moderate problem within Roseville as a whole. Almost 8 in 10 residents considered it essential or very important for the City of Roseville to address the challenges of people experiencing homelessness in the community in some way. Residents rated the following approaches as essential or very important for the City to focus on: partnering with Placer County Social Services, non-profits, and health care providers that provide services to homeless individuals (82%), providing access to social services (80%), and creating affordable housing opportunities (62%). In addition, 78% of community members either strongly support or somewhat support the City providing supportive housing for people experiencing homelessness.
Full results can be viewed here: The NCS report on Tableau