1. DirectionFinder® Survey
2009 City of Blue Springs
DirectionFinder® Survey
May 18, 2009

2. organizational performance for 25 years
ETC Institute: A National Leader in Market Research for Local Governmental Organizations …helping city and county governments gather and use survey data to enhance
organizational performance for 25 years
More than 1,350,000 Persons Surveyed for more than 425 cities in 46 States

3. Agenda Purpose/Methodology Results Conclusions/Questions
Perceptions of the Community
Satisfaction with Major Categories of City Services
Public Safety
Communication
Maintenance
Transportation
Parks and Recreation
Code Enforcement
Planning and Zoning
Customer Service
City Leadership
Conclusions/Questions

4. Purpose/Methodology
Designed to objectively assess community priorities and satisfaction with city services
Sixth time the City has conducted the survey
Most questions similar to the 2006 and 2007 surveys
Administered by mail with follow-up by phone
Random sample of 822 residents
Precision of at least +/-3.4% at the 95% level of confidence
Results were geocoded
Sample was representative with regard to location and demographic attributes

5. HEADLINE STORY
Overall Satisfaction with City Services Has Improved Greatly During the Past 2 Years
Among 87 areas that were assessed on the City’s survey in both 2007 & 2009
Ratings IMPROVED in 75 areas
There were significant decreases in just 5 areas
Improvements in Blue Springs are exceptional because satisfaction with city services has generally decreased nationally during the past year
Residents Think City Leaders Are Moving the City in the Right Direction

6. Perceptions of the Community

7. Significant
Increase
Significant
Decrease

8. Overall Satisfaction with Major Categories of Service

9. Significant
Increase
Significant
Decrease

12. Public Safety

13. Significant
Increase
Significant
Decrease

14. Communications

17. OVERALL SATISFACTION WITH CITY COMMUNICATION INCREASED,
But The Loss of Local Newspaper Publications Affected Satisfaction with the Availability of Information
Significant
Increase
Significant
Decrease

18. Maintenance

19. Significant
Increase
Significant
Decrease

21. Transportation

22. Significant
Increase
Significant
Decrease

23. Parks and Recreation

24. Significant
Increase
Significant
Decrease

25. Code Enforcement

26. Significant
Increase
Significant
Decrease

27. Planning and Zoning

28. Significant
Increase
Significant
Decrease

29. Customer Service

31. City Leadership

33. Significant
Increase
Significant
Decrease

34. Conclusions/Recommendations
Residents Definitely Think the City of Blue Springs is Moving in the Right Direction
Satisfaction with Elected City Leadership increased 14%
Satisfaction with Staff Leadership increased 12%
Satisfaction with the Value Received for City Taxes increased 12%
Satisfaction with City Services is Up Significantly in Most Areas
Ratings improved in 75 of the 87 areas that were rated in both and 2009
Only 5 statistically significant decreases
Major categories that improved the most were:
City communication
Community planning
Enforcement of building and property maintenance
Police services
Top Overall Priorities for the next two years
Maintenance of Major City streets
Management of Traffic Flow in the City

35. Questions ??

36. OTHER SLIDES IF NEEDED TO ADDRESS QUESTIONS

39. Recycling

45. Support for Projects

48. Development Issues