Residents in survey say they like living in Elgin, want homelessness addressed

Elgin residents give the city high marks in every category of services ranging from parks to police.

But if there's one area they'd like to see improved more than any other, it would be to make the city look a little nicer. And at the top of their minds are issues related to the city's homeless population.

The city's first survey of Elgin residents since 2017 showed the vast majority of residents view the city as a good place to live, work and raise children. Residents praised public safety, parks and recreation, and utility services like water and sewer in the survey, which sampled 500 residents from neighborhoods and demographics that reflected the city's overall population.

Still, more than a third of residents surveyed said the city could do a better job of cracking down on trash and unmown lawns on private property. They also want to see more building code enforcement on private and commercial property.

That response perhaps stems from the survey being conducted in the midst of a heated debate about the future of the DC Cook property that's being demolished.

More than a third of residents also said they don't feel safe downtown at night. A similar total said they feel unsafe in the city's parking garages.

Both of those are ongoing points of contention as the city works to address a homeless population that's expected to grow with the expiration of Illinois' eviction moratorium on Oct. 3.

Residents selected addressing the homeless population as the top issue facing the city. Affordability of city services and property taxes were the second most important issue, followed by public safety.

Of note as the city's new community task force on policing begins its work is the 15% of residents surveyed who identified social justice/equity and inclusivity as a top priority.

Council member Toby Shaw, who will be a nonvoting member of that task force, said he found reassurance in the results of the survey. The council reviewed the survey at its meeting last week.

"It gives me a little bit of hope," Shaw said. "Elgin still has a little bit of empathy. They still care about the dollars in their pocketbooks, and they want the infrastructure and services around them to be improved. We've not strayed too far to the extreme on some of these issues that we see nationwide."

Mayor David Kaptain said the city council will refer to the results of the survey continuously as elected officials set priorities and work to improve the city.