As I mentioned yesterday in the Mass Transit update thread, ironically this was released at the city council meeting, just moments before Urban Neighbors presented the mass transit plan for downtown to the City Council. Ironically, Mass Transit is the #2 demand from city residents, down one spot from last time, only to road and bridges repair though (understandably). Mass transit is hot on the mind of residents, what is the city going to do about it???

Survey: OKC residents down on services, positive overall

August 13, 2008 OKLAHOMA CITY – Residents are slightly less satisfied with Oklahoma City government services, but overall are pleased, survey results show.

City street maintenance continues to be the area of least satisfaction, with only a 19-percent approval rate from survey respondents, the ETC Institute reported.

The Kansas-based marketing research firm was hired to find out how well services are being delivered by the city. ETC performed similar surveys in 2007 and 2005. The most recent random sampling survey results of 3,000 households have an expected accuracy rate of +/-2.8 percent.

ETC found 75 percent of respondents are satisfied with the quality of police, fire and ambulance services and 70 percent are pleased with the city water utilities. That compares with 2007 when about 79 percent of respondents were satisfied with emergency services, and in 2005 when 83 percent reported they were pleased. Water utilities satisfaction was about 75 percent in 2007 and 72 percent in 2005.

All other major categories also showed drops of 1-5 percentage points since last year. City Hall spokeswoman Kristy Yager said she wasn’t surprised, because consumer satisfaction levels overall tend to dip in periods of economic downturn.

When asked which city services should receive the most emphasis over the next two years, respondents overwhelmingly chose street maintenance, with 72 percent. The second-closest area of emphasis was the city’s public transit system, with 38 percent.

ETC also compared Oklahoma City’s survey responses to 24 benchmark cities in the country, including Dallas; Wichita, Kan.; Durham, N.C.; Denver; Tulsa; and San Diego.

In that respect, Oklahoma City residents were less satisfied with the quality of life in the city than the national average (68 percent versus 77 percent), but they were more pleased with Oklahoma City as a place to live (85 percent versus 81 percent).