2015 South Sioux City Community Attitude and Need Assessment Surveys Results

Methodology Surveys were distributed to 1 out of 4 residential addresses 288 Surveys were returned and analyzed (Community Attitude = 143, Need Assessment= 145) For multiple choice questions, the percentage of individuals selecting each choice were calculated, graphed, and where possible, contrasted with the 2012 data Common themes were assessed for open-ended responses This presentation will provide highlights from both the frequency data as well as the open-ended question themes.

Census (2014 Population Estimate) Median Household Income = $ 40,975 Educational: Percent high school graduate or higher = 65.7 % Gather this data from Census.gov

Demographics (2015) Respondents generally: Own their home Have access to the internet at home Have lived in the community for more than 5 years Are currently married Are predominantly Caucasian (Hispanic/Latino, 2nd)

2015 Community Attitude Survey Highlights

Services, General: Overall quality of life in South Sioux City Services, General: Overall quality of life in South Sioux City. (2012: The community as an overall place to live and raise a family) * 2012 2015 South Sioux City is increasingly a good place to live. The percentage of people responding “Good” to this question increased dramatically from 2012 to 2015.

Services, Law Enforcement: Attitude of Officers * 2012 2015 Attitudes towards law enforcement have improved from 2012 to 2015 in all major areas: drug enforcement, traffic enforcement, attitude of officers, response times, and animal control performance. An example of the results is shown here.

Community Issues, Safety and Environmental Issues: Do you feel safe walking in your neighborhood after dark? 2012 2015 Feelings of safety have improved in the community. Note, however, that around 30% of people still report not feeling safe after dark in their own neighborhoods.

Services, City Administration: Performance of City Council and Mayor – Leadership (2012 Council only) * 2012 2015 Leaders are viewed more favorably now than in 2012. This includes the City Council, City Administrator, and the Chamber of Commerce. The Mayor was not evaluated in the 2012 survey, but is presently viewed in a favorable manner.

Community Issues, Living: Would you support another restaurant in South Sioux City? 2012 2015 There continues to be high levels of support for new restaurants in the city. Based on the open-ended questions, American-style, family sit-down restaurants are in the greatest demand.

Community Issues, South Sioux City Community Schools: Do you believe the schools provide quality education for all students? 2012 2015 Community schools continue to provide a quality education for all students.

Other Topics, How Important are the following sources for receiving information about your community: Mundo Latino Newspaper * 2012 2015 The primary sources for community information continue to be the Dakota County Star, the Sioux City Journal, and television. However, the importance of the Mundo Latino Newspaper has increased dramatically.

Community Attitude Survey: Themes Poor quality of streets Parking (too many cars parked on streets in some neighborhoods, cars parked across sidewalks and on lawns) Traffic safety (too much speeding, ignoring traffic lights and stop signs) Demand for more sit-down, American-style restaurants Racism (anti-Hispanic and anti-Somalian sentiments in particular) Based on open-ended questions, a number of themes emerged as common.

2015 Community Need Assessment Survey Highlights

Services, Law Enforcement: To what extent are the issues listed below a problem within your neighborhood - visible or open air drug sales and/or use 2012 2015 The significance of neighborhood issues (noise, speeding cars, parking, unsupervised children, etc.) has remained relatively constant since 2012. The significance of stray/barking dogs has increased somewhat. Although open air drug sales and/or use has declined by a fair margin, nearly 15% of people continue to report it as still being at least somewhat of a problem in their neighborhood.

Services, City Administration: Format and clearness of city newsletter Services, City Administration: Format and clearness of city newsletter. (2012: City newsletter) * 2012 2015 The format and clarity of the city utility bill and the city newsletter have both improved since 2012.

Services, Public Works: Electric services – service reliability * 2012 2015 The quality, reliability, and rates for both water and electrical services have improved since 2012.

Community Issues, Budgetary Issues: Do you favor property tax breaks for attracting new businesses to the area that would pay above average wages? 2012 2015 Approval for property tax breaks remains high if it means businesses that pay good wages will come to the community.

Community Issues, Budgetary Issues: Would you support eliminating fall and spring cleanup if doing so decreased your monthly sanitation bill by $1.50? 2012 2015 Access to spring and fall cleanup remains a desirable opportunity even if it means slightly higher sanitation bills.

Community Issues, Safety and Environmental Issues: Did you know that your community has a storm water management plan? 2012 2015 Relative to 2012, there is a decreased awareness of the community’s storm water management plan. Similarly, there is a decreased awareness/remembrance of having received information about storm water pollutants entering the river.

Community Issues, Safety and Environmental Issues: Do you think a plastic bag ban would be effective in South Sioux City? 2012 2015 No data Respondents support the use of reusable bags. However, they were generally not in favor of any plans or mechanisms to directly remove or reduce plastic bag use.

Community Issues, Living: Does your community have adequate housing for the elderly? 2012 2015 There is not adequate housing for those with low income, those with middle income, or the elderly. All three types of housing were seen as more adequate in 2012.

Community Issues, Tax Reduction: To keep taxes low would you support – expanding the sharing of services by the city, school, and county? 2012 2015 Respondents generally do not want reduced services in exchange for low taxes. Two exceptions stood out, one being that they favor the use of contracting with private companies and second the sharing of services between city, school, and county.

Community Issues, SSC Community Schools: How much emphasis should the schools be placing on – prevention programs for drug/alcohol abuse? 2012 2015 Relative to 2012, individuals support more emphasis being placed on a variety of programs, including: core instruction, at-risk students, students with special needs or disabilities, gifted/talented students, drug/alcohol prevention programs, and also after-school programs.

Community Issues, SSC Community Schools: How much emphasis should the schools be placing on – programs for students whose native language is not English (ELL/ESL)? 2012 2015 The community is increasingly divided on additional emphasis for ELL/ESL programs. Today, there is an increased percentage of individuals who want to see more emphasis and there is also an increased percentage of individuals who want to see less emphasis. Those who wanted emphasis to remain the same or did not respond have significantly decreased.

Community Need Assessment Survey: Themes Poor quality roads Problems with street parking Housing (availability, affordability, the elderly) Vandalism and graffiti Maintenance of private property needs to be improved Ordinances are not being enforced (especially traffic and noise) Schools/education need to be improved Based on open-ended questions, a number of themes emerged as common.