Minot survey: 1,208 residents rank ‘great place to raise children,’ fiscal responsibility and 3rd Street replacement as top priorities

Ron Gailey of OnPoint Insights told the Minot City Council on Nov. 17 that the firm’s community survey drew 1,208 responses and provided neighborhood-level detail that staff can use for budget and planning decisions. “We got 1,208 respondents,” Gailey said in the council chamber, noting respondents were concentrated in northwest Minot but broadly represented other areas as well.

Gailey summarized the findings: 58% of respondents said Minot is going in the right direction over the past three years; about 90% reported owning or buying their homes and roughly 10% were renters; top recurring concerns included road maintenance, property taxes and neighborhood snow removal. The survey’s priority-ranking tool identified “a great place to raise children,” fiscal responsibility and transparent leadership among the highest-ranked attributes residents want the city to protect.

City staff and Gailey stressed the survey is one input among many for policy and budget choices. “This is one piece of evidence,” the City Manager told the council during the introduction of the presentation. Gailey demonstrated the survey dashboard’s filters for age, neighborhood and household type and said the results can be examined for specific neighborhoods or demographic groups.

Council members probed the sample and cleaning methods. Alderman Blessum asked how many submissions were discarded for duplication; Gailey said few were excluded—“a dozen at most”—and that the team checked IP addresses and email addresses to identify duplicates. He estimated 15–20 respondents had multiple IP addresses and said the vendor retained the first submission and removed subsequent duplicates when necessary.

Several aldermen urged caution when interpreting subgroup results. Gailey and city staff acknowledged renters are underrepresented relative to population share and said future rounds could emphasize outreach to specific affinity groups. The city manager and staff credited Public Information staff (Jennifer Clean) for driving broad participation through email and text invitations.

City leaders said the survey will inform budget prioritization and capital planning—particularly around streets and snow removal—while staff will follow up with comparative analyses of the 2021 and 2023 surveys. The full dashboard and comment filters are available through the city’s posted materials for residents who want to review the underlying responses.