Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Community Survey topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
2024 Aspen community survey: residents praise safety, flag affordability and housing
Summary
Polco presented results showing high marks for safety, parks and police services; residents also rated economic health positively but raised affordability and housing availability as top concerns. The survey used a combined probability sample and open participation responses and was statistically reweighted.
City staff and consultant Polco presented the 2024 National Community Survey results to council, highlighting strong resident ratings for safety and parks alongside persistent concerns about affordability and housing availability.
"More than 9 in 10 residents gave the city a rating of excellent or good for their overall feeling of safety," said Joe Delilio, senior survey associate at Polco, summarizing a key finding. Delilio explained the methodology: the survey combined a random probability‑based mail sample (3,500 households drawn from USPS addresses within Aspen’s GIS boundaries) with an open participation survey; overall results were reweighted to address nonresponse bias.
Delilio and John Barker (interim director, Strategy Innovation Office) said Aspen rated higher than national benchmarks on most livability facets and that the city scored especially well on natural environment, parks and recreation. But items tied to growth, well‑planned residential development and availability of affordable housing scored lower (well‑planned residential growth received roughly a 22% favorable rating), and council members discussed how to use follow‑up engagement and targeted surveys to dig into those issues.
Council asked about response rates and comparability: Delilio said the random sample response rate (≈8–10%) was lower than Polco’s typical 12–18% range but consistent with Aspen’s 2022 response; he noted vacant households likely reduced response rates and that full demographic crosstabs are available through Polco and Tableau. Staff said follow‑up, targeted survey work and continued use of the NCS tool will help drive future policy and council goal alignment.
