Batavia survey: Good place to live, downtown could be better

Nothing much has changed from last year, as far as results of the City of Batavia's annual survey of residents.

No. 1 on the list of responders' priorities: do SOMETHING to "revitalize" the downtown.

That's been a top priority the last four years of the survey, which has been conducted since 2003.

Nos. 2 and 3 are "improve traffic circulation" and "work with citizens and citizen groups to resolve important community issues."

Ninety-one percent said Batavia was a "good" or "excellent" place to live. But only 41 percent said it was a "good" or "excellent" place to retire with respondents saying they won't be able to afford their property taxes, or that there isn't enough affordable senior-oriented independent housing.

The survey was sent to 1,500 households, and returned by 544, or 36 percent.

They were asked 40 questions.

They were asked to rank the importance and rate the quality of city-provided and contracted services, such as police and fire service and garbage pickup. They were asked what festivals and other public events they had attended recently. Some of the questions asked for explanatory comments, and people could also comment on anything they liked in a space at the end of the survey.

Complaints about lack of desired amenities downtown, such as classy and chain restaurants and stores, were about as numerous as the complaints about property taxes being too high. Many of the commenters, however, complained about school and park district spending and projects, which are not controlled by the city. About a dozen said either that the mayor had been in office for too long or that the town was run by a "good old boy" network that doesn't want to try anything new.

And if they had their way, hundreds of the respondents would run Comcast out of town on a pole. They cited high cost, dropped channels and poor customer service. Comcast has the sole cable television franchise in Batavia, although AT&T has said it plans to bring its U-verse television service to town.

At least six commenters complained about the permit required to install a replacement water heater, a requirement (and fee) Batavia instituted in 2009.

"It has nothing to do with safety and is an attempt to waste more money from already-strapped taxpayers. The only way to enforce this ordinance is if neighbors turn in neighbors like Nazi Germany," one person wrote.

Sixty-one percent said the value of the city services they receive was "good" or "excellent," about the same as last year.

The survey results can be viewed at cityofbatavia.net, under "Batavia News."