Fairhope residents report high satisfaction with city services, amenities and safety

Fairhope — Fairhope city leaders presented results of a resident satisfaction survey during a council work session, reporting broad approval for municipal services, parks and public safety.

City officials said the survey was conducted in February and made available both online and as hard copies at City Hall. Officials reported 899 respondents answered the question on overall quality of city public services, with 46% saying they were "very satisfied." On parks, libraries and recreation facilities 51% of respondents said they were satisfied with availability and quality. On public safety, 817 respondents answered questions about safety and police and fire response: 47% said they feel "very safe" in their neighborhood and throughout the city, and roughly 57% rated the overall quality of police service as the top score on a 1-to-5 scale.

Mayor Sullivan said the survey drew responses from a mix of residents in terms of tenure and age. Officials reported 612 respondents answered whether they live within city limits (86 skipped); more than 47% of respondents said they had lived in Fairhope for more than 10 years. The largest single age group among respondents was 25–44 (38%), followed by 45–64 (37%).

City staff also reported strong satisfaction with utilities. Of 718 respondents who rated Fairhope Public Utilities, about 70% were either "somewhat satisfied" or "very satisfied;" reliability (water, wastewater, electric and gas) rated between "good" and "excellent" for nearly 80% of respondents. On sanitation and recycling (726 respondents), 87% reported satisfaction with garbage and trash services and 70% said they currently recycle.

Survey takers indicated communication preferences: social media and email were the most-preferred channels, and 41% rated the city's communications as "very effective" out of 771 respondents. When asked about support for new facilities, 36% of roughly 741 respondents said they would be very supportive of a performing arts center and similar levels of support were reported for a new civic center.

Officials noted the city received many written comments with the survey and will post the full packet of responses on the city's website. The survey was described as a periodic measure; staff said they expect to repeat such a survey about every five years.

City leaders did not announce any policy changes tied to specific survey comments at the meeting but said the results will inform future planning and communications work.