KALAMAZOO, MI (WKZO AM/FM) – The results are in for the 2021 National Community Survey in Kalamazoo.
The survey asked 3,000 Kalamazoo residents to rate services provided by the city, as well as which services are the most important. The results are used to help decide where services need to be improved, as well as helping with prioritized spending.
The city has used the National Community Survey twice before in 2017 and 2019.
During a virtual Committee of the Whole meeting Monday afternoon, City Commissioners discussed the results with Deputy City Manager Laura Lam.
“In terms of this survey, we have a scientific survey that reached out to a representative sample of Kalamazoo, really with an effort to try and understand how our residents rate our services and programs, how they gauge their level of involvement in the city, how they think we’re performing in terms of the day-to-day operations, and really get a chance to check in on how our community thinks we should orient ourselves as we think ahead to the work that’s coming,” Lam said.
In discussing the survey results, Lam said about 14% of those polled had responded. They were then compared to Census and American Community Survey data, and the results are weighted to be reflective of the larger city population.
According to the results, the key takeaways indicated that while most residents value the quality of life in Kalamazoo, fewer than half responded positively on survey items related to trust.
Quality of services provided (52%), overall customer service (61%) and public information (52%) should be improved, according to those who responded to the survey.
“On the positive side, we are seeing that our residents continue to value their quality of life here,” Lam said. “We hear them say this is a good place to live, we hear them say they would recommend living in Kalamazoo to other people. The survey certainly identified some areas we have for improvement. Less than 45 percent of our community feel that the city is being honest, open, transparent, that we’re informing residents of the issues we face, that we’re treating residents fairly, or that we’re treating residents with respect.”
Lam said that these results are not taken lightly.
“I think it really suggests that we know we have work to do,” Lam said. “Certainly, we have tried to take some steps to rebuild some of the relationships with our community to strengthen trust, but this survey really reinforces that there is far more work to do along those lines.”
Areas of importance ranked by residents, to be addressed over the next two years, can be viewed below:
Areas for improvement in Kalamazoo, according to polled residents. (Photo via City of Kalamazoo through Zoom meeting).
Lam said additional analysis of the data will be conducted to better understand the results.
“We certainly appreciate that our community members may experience city services differently, and may have different interactions with the city,” Lam said. “To that end, we’re looking at how we compare all the results of the survey against demographics, so we can understand how there might be different insights depending on where people live, depending on race, depending on gender, or depending on age.”
She said this is important in considering further actions.
Following a discussion between officials, City Manager Jim Ritsema gave a presentation outlining the next steps going forward.
Further steps after receiving survey data. (Photo via City of Kalamazoo through Zoom Meeting).
“I think we’ve talked here about how important that is, the idea of strengthening relationships and building trust,” Ritsema said. “We know we have to build and work in this area, and it’s going to be the little things over time that we’re going to do and say in the community. We’re committed to that, those are things that we need to work on with the community.
At every department level, there are various interactions each day with the public, and it’s those interactions and others that work towards building trust and doing what we say we’ll do. I’m committed, and I know my team is committed, to taking this seriously and building off the work we have already begun.”
To view a recording of the meeting, click here.
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