Arvada 2024 community survey: residents report good quality of life but cite homelessness and road maintenance as top priorities

Arvada residents reported generally positive views of quality of life in a 2024 community survey presented Feb. 3, but many singled out homelessness and street maintenance as top areas needing improvement.

Adam Przybulski, president of Przybulski Research, told the City Council that the survey drew about 1,480 completed responses and used telephone and online outreach in both English and Spanish. "This is a robust survey, and, very inclusive, giving people the chance to participate, on the telephone or online," Przybulski said. He noted the survey included demographic weighting to reflect Arvada’s population.

Key findings reported to council included: 67% of respondents rated Arvada s having a good quality of life and 61% called it a good place to live; 64% said they are satisfied with city services overall; 71% said they can get where they need to go using their preferred travel mode; and 76% expressed confidence in city utility employees' ability to complete repairs quickly. By contrast, only 21% of respondents said they were satisfied with the city's efforts to address homelessness and 25% were satisfied with progress on affordable housing.

Przybulski said residents most commonly identified increased funding to address homelessness and to improve street maintenance when asked how additional revenues should be used. On the question of raising local taxes to pay for city priorities, 41% of respondents said they would support a tax increase while 52% opposed it.

Council members asked for additional analysis. Council member Sharon Davis requested year-over-year comparisons for the primary satisfaction measures; Council member Pfeiffer and others asked for a concise slide or report showing trends across multiple years. Przybulski confirmed the team retains the full cross-tabulated data and a longer report, and staff said a 50-page presentation and the full results are available on the city's community-survey web page.

Methodology and demographics: Przybulski said the survey ran about a month, offered English and Spanish options (about 6% selected Spanish), and lasted roughly 18 minutes per complete. The consultant said the sample was weighted to match Census demographics and that the survey included cross-tabs by age, income and council district.

What happens next: Council members asked staff to provide year-over-year and peer-city comparisons and requested a more accessible, shorter package for public review. No policy decisions or funding votes were taken at the Feb. 3 presentation; the survey results were presented for council information and future planning.

Votes at a glance: At the start of the meeting the council approved its consent agenda and several appointments. A motion by Council member Pfeiffer to approve resolutions R25-017 (settlement and easement agreement with Becky Jean and Joel Gerald Hassel) and R25-018 (Jefferson County jail booking area site use) and related consent items passed 7–0. The council also approved three appointments: Council member Shawna Ambrose to the housing advisory committee and alternate to the Old Town BID (passed 7–0); Council member Sharon Davis to the Denver Regional Council of Governments and the GEFCO Transportation Action and Advisory Group (passed 7–0); and Council member Brad Rupert to multiple regional and advisory committees (passed 7–0).