Raymore’s first resident 'flash' survey finds cautious optimism and traffic as top long-term concern

Communications staff presented the first results from Raymore's new resident "flash" survey program, which was sent to a 344-member panel and received 212 responses in a 48-hour window.

"Community direction, residents are cautiously optimistic about the city's trajectory," Melissa Harmer told the council, summarizing the poll: 44% said Raymore is headed in the right direction, 27% said the wrong direction and 30% were unsure. When asked about strengths, respondents most frequently selected parks and recreation (66%), physical safety and security (63%) and overall community appearance (47%).

Participants rated priorities differently from satisfaction: physical safety and security scored high on both importance and satisfaction, while condition of streets and sidewalks ranked high on importance but lower on satisfaction. Harmer said the city will continue to invest in street maintenance, highlighting a hot-in-place recycling program and the summer crack-sealing program.

In an open-ended question about long-term challenges, respondents identified traffic congestion (91%), maintenance of roadways (63%) and housing affordability (55%) as top concerns over the next 10 years. Harmer said the full survey results and a sign-up link for the resident panel are available at www.raymore.com/survey.

The council asked no follow-up questions at the meeting and made no policy decisions based on the survey; staff presented the results as a baseline for future resident engagement and planning.