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Lake Oswego survey: 95% call the city a good place to live; economic development tops priorities
Summary
A statistically valid survey of 400 residents shows very high satisfaction with Lake Oswego services and names economic development, public safety and development services as top priorities; council asked staff for deeper analysis and comparisons to similar cities.
A city-funded, statistically valid survey released to the Lake Oswego City Council on Dec. 2 found that 95% of respondents rated Lake Oswego an excellent or good place to live and to raise children.
Jason Marrato of ETC Institute told the council the study used a mail-and-online random sample that produced 400 completed surveys, with a margin of error of plus-or-minus 4.9 percentage points at the 95% confidence level. "We received 400 completed surveys from the random sample," Marrato said during a 15–20 minute presentation.
The consultant said satisfaction with city services is substantially higher than regional and national averages across the 27 areas measured, and that ratings improved in 56 of 95 items since 2023. Top community priorities identified were economic development, public safety, development services, sustainability and equity, plus maintenance of neighborhood streets and ease and safety of bicycle and pedestrian travel.
Councilors pressed for follow-up analysis. Councilor Woodland asked whether results for the supplemental (non‑random) responses aligned with the main sample; Marrato said preliminary review shows similar priorities though satisfaction scores were slightly lower for the open sample. Councilor Afghan and others asked for comparisons with similarly sized, demographically comparable cities rather than broad regional or national averages; staff agreed to return that analysis.
Several councilors also focused on items flagged for further study. Councilor Booth observed that the high overall scores still left a small group of dissatisfied respondents: "I am more interested in the 3% than the 97%." Council members asked staff for more qualitative work—focus groups or targeted outreach—around development services, an item that rose to the top of the priority list and may reflect counter‑experience with permitting and state-driven changes.
The council asked staff to share the report with boards and commissions and directed follow-up work to explore the development‑services question and to prepare comparative benchmarking to similar municipalities. The city indicated the survey results will inform goal setting for 2026.
