Mt. Prospect Park District Programs and Parks Rank High in Community Survey

In Fall 2017, the Mt. Prospect Park District initiated its first Community Attitude & Interest Survey since 2005. The district hired aQity Research & Insights of Evanston to create and facilitate the initial survey sent to 4,000 residents of the Mt. Prospect Park District. The survey sought to determine residents overall satisfaction with the park district's programs and events, staff, facilities, parks and services.

The results are in with respondents giving the district an 86% overall approval rating. Neighborhood parks ranked high with over 100% of patrons spending time in a park in the past year and 92% of those rating the parks as clean, safe and accessible. Programs and facilities ranked high as well with 71% participating in a program/event in the last year. Programs were given solid marks for cost, location, quality of instructors, ease of registration and program variety. In addition to requesting additional youth programming, respondents called for more "active adult" programming in the 40-64 age group.

An understanding of residents needs is essential to future planning. Survey results feed into the development of the Strategic Plan which seeks to identify for the board, leadership team, staff and community who we are, why we exist, where we are as an organization and where we are heading. Implementation of the Strategic Plan should clarify purpose and align systems and efforts while setting a standard for continuous improvement for the next 3-5 years.