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Boerne citizen survey shows high satisfaction; mobility and growth top concerns
Summary
City staff presented results of a community survey with nearly 1,600 responses showing strong overall satisfaction and a 59 net promoter score, but persistent dissatisfaction on mobility, traffic enforcement and certain amenities. Staff said the results will provide a roadmap for budget, CIP and bonds.
City staff told the Boerne City Council at a Jan. 30 workshop that an interactive community survey of nearly 1,600 participants produced generally positive scores for quality of life and resident satisfaction but identified mobility, growth management and some park amenities as the highest-priority concerns.
Ben Batch and Christie (staff presenters) described the survey as the city’s third community survey and said 1,600 people participated; staff noted 408 respondents were nonresidents. “We wanted to embrace all the feedback we could,” Christie said, describing filters in the interactive dashboard by district and demographic groups.
The city’s “refer-a-friend” net promoter score was 59 overall; staff reported county/nonresident scores slightly higher (63) and city resident scores at 57. Officials noted younger and newer residents tended to give higher referral scores than longer-term residents.
Survey modules asked respondents to select the amenities most important to them and then rate satisfaction. Staff emphasized that some high-dissatisfaction items corresponded to amenities not widely chosen as priorities; for example, the public pool had the highest dissatisfaction (63%) but only about 12–13% of respondents identified it as a top-priority amenity.
Mobility and infrastructure repeatedly emerged as top concerns. Traffic enforcement dissatisfaction fell from 67% in a prior survey to 48% in the current survey, and pedestrian-safety dissatisfaction dropped from 55% to 44%. Still, traffic congestion and intersection safety were commonly cited in open-ended mobility comments; staff said roughly 43% of respondents left an open-ended mobility suggestion and the consultant grouped those into categories for council review.
Growth and land-use issues ranked highest in importance: “managing growth and density” was the top priority in that module, and dissatisfaction remained relatively steady, council members noted. Staff flagged preservation, code-review interest and a desire for varied housing types in open responses, but said only a minority listed some housing options as a top priority.
Christie and Ben told the council the survey provides a “top 20” roadmap staff will use to set priorities and identify items that might qualify for future bond proposals. They also recommended follow-up “dig-down” surveys for topics the community wants more detail on—for example, detailed park-amenity designs or focused mobility questions.
Council members and staff discussed using the survey results in budget and CIP planning and exploring partnerships with the county for shared facilities and parking. Staff said they will make district-level comment pages available to council members and will share the interactive dashboard and open-ended responses for further review.
No formal policy actions were taken at the workshop; staff said the survey will help prioritize capital and operating requests in the next budget cycle and inform potential bond discussions.
