Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the City Survey topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Controller's 2007 city survey shows mixed ratings; transportation and pavement decline, families' responses improve modestly
Summary
The controller's 2007 city survey of ~3,600 residents reports declines in transportation and pavement satisfaction, stability in safety grades, and a modest improvement in family retention indicators; the survey cost roughly $150,000 (vendor ~$70,000 plus mailing/staff), margin of error about +/-3%.
The Government Audit and Oversight Committee received the controller's City Survey 02/2007 presentation and filed the report.
Project lead Betsy Baum explained the survey reached more than 3,600 respondents through a mix of mail, phone and web modes; the vendor cost for the Public Research Institute at San Francisco State University was approximately $70,000, and total costs including postage and staff time were roughly $150,000. The overall margin of error was about +/-3 percent, though it varies by question and subsample.
Key findings included declining ratings for public transportation (timeliness and reliability) and pavement condition; transportation ratings fell for the third survey cycle in a row when measured by favorable (A/B) responses. Safety grades stayed roughly stable (B-), but the controller presented maps showing substantial neighborhood variation in violent-crime rates and perceived safety. Open-ended responses frequently mentioned public transit, cleanliness, public safety and street conditions; homelessness also appeared among the most-cited concerns.
On families and children, the report found fewer families indicating they plan to leave San Francisco compared with 2005; Baum and Department of Children, Youth and Families (DCYF) policy director September Jarrett cautioned that the survey measures stated likelihood to leave, not observed departures, and noted DCYF will conduct follow-up analysis using census and focus-group sources. Baum also noted outreach in Spanish and Chinese but said combined Chinese responses numbered fewer than 30.
Committee members asked for more detailed breakdowns by district and for follow-up analyses; the chair filed the item for the record and committee oversight.
