Elgin residents give city high marks in new community survey
More than three quarters of Elgin residents hold a positive view of the city, according to a recently completed community survey.
The survey was conducted over the summer by ETC Institute, an independent research firm specializing in community surveys for local governments. The group previously conducted similar polls in Elgin in 2017 and 2021.
ETC director of community research Jason Morado presented the results to the city council Wednesday, telling council members that 78% of the residents surveyed rated Elgin as an excellent or good place to live.
“Which is much higher than most other communities,” Morado said, adding that the results improved slightly over the 2021 survey. “And that’s a good thing because the results were very, very positive in 2021.”
Morado said the national average is 55%.
The survey indicated Elgin rated above the U.S. average in 37 of the 46 areas evaluated.
Survey findings included a 93% satisfaction rate with the overall quality of fire and ambulance services, 82% satisfaction with trash and yard waste services and 78% satisfaction with police services, which was 29 percentage points above the national average.
Parks and recreation programs and facilities, as well as the city’s customer service, also received high marks from residents.
Notable increases in satisfaction from 2021 included the availability of public information in Spanish, the city’s outdoor pools, feeling safe downtown at night as well as in public parking garages and Elgin as a place for recreation.
Nine areas scored below national averages, including code enforcement in regards to exterior property maintenance, enforcement of weeds and mowing and cleanup of trash and debris on private property.
Areas of decreased satisfaction from 2021 included quality of tap water and water services, traffic flow along major streets, enforcing codes and ordinances and maintaining street signs, pavement and markings.
Maintenance of city streets, sidewalks and infrastructure, enforcement of local codes and ordinances and quality of entertainment and events were residents top three choices when asked what category of city services should receive the most emphasis over the next two years.
When asked what they thought the most significant issues Elgin would face over the next five years, 58% of residents replied homelessness, followed by public safety (43%), affordability of city services (38%) and housing (34%).
The survey included 605 responses. Morado said they typically try to receive 500 completed surveys for a city the size of Elgin. The surveys were administered by mail and online to randomly selected households throughout the city. Results have a plus or minus 4% margin of error at the 95% confidence level.
City officials say the results will help them evaluate its performance, measure progress and inform planning and budget decisions.
Complete survey findings and accompanying geographic maps are available at ElginIL.gov/CommunitySurvey.
rwest@dailyherald.com