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Polco/NRC survey shows improved trust in city government but housing affordability remains a top concern
Summary
A city-commissioned community satisfaction survey presented to the Redwood City Council found gains in governance and community engagement metrics but persistent low ratings for housing affordability; the council discussed methods, response rates and next steps for using results to inform budgeting.
City staff and consultant Jason Neumeier presented results from Redwood City’s 2025 Community Satisfaction Survey during the Jan. 26 council meeting, reporting improvements in governance and engagement scores alongside persistent concerns about housing affordability and mobility.
Deputy City Manager Jennifer Yamaguma introduced the consultant and said departments will use the survey to inform budget and service decisions. Jason Neumeier of Polco/NRC said the survey used a probability mail-based sample (3,000 addresses sampled; 280 completed responses, roughly a 9% response rate, margin of error about ±5.9%). The presentation compared Redwood City’s scores to national and a custom California cohort of similar cities and highlighted five key findings: improved governance ratings, safety measures generally in line with national benchmarks, rising local economic indicators but continued affordability challenges, mobility as an improvement opportunity, and strong inclusivity and engagement indices.
Neumeier said benchmarking and trend analysis are useful tools for prioritizing investments: “If you were similar this time and potentially lower next time, you can still see your comparison to the national benchmark and your rank there,” he told the council. Councilmembers probed methodology, asking about demographic weighting, geographic distribution of responses and the treatment of “don’t know” answers; Neumeier and staff said the mailed probability sample was reweighted to match city demographics and that open participation responses were compiled separately and posted online.
Council dialogue focused on how the survey should inform budget and outreach: Councilmember Howard asked how quickly investments show up in survey changes; Neumeier suggested biannual administrations create visible trend lines, particularly for mobility work. Councilmember Padilla and Councilmember Chiu urged the city to include ‘don’t know’ responses in future summaries because they signal disengagement. Councilmembers also recommended targeted outreach to Spanish-speaking residents and exploring micro-polls or open-ended follow-up surveys to gather narrative input on issues highlighted by the NCS.
What’s next: staff and Polco said departments will use these findings in preparing the recommended budget and that the full interactive results are available at redwoodcity.org/community-survey. No formal council action was required.
