City Council
Staff Report
From: City Manager
Report Type: STUDY SESSION
Lead Department: City Manager
Meeting Date: December 4, 2023
Report #:2310-2175
TITLE
Presentation of the 2023 Annual Community Survey Results
RECOMMENDATION
Staff recommends that the City Council receive the Report of Results for the 2023 City of Palo Alto Community Survey by Polco/National Research Center, Inc (Polco).
BACKGROUND
Since 2003, the City has annually or biennially conducted a community survey to gain insights into residents’ perspectives about the community, including local amenities, services, public trust, resident participation, and other aspects of the community. Survey information is used to support budgeting, land use and strategic planning, and communication efforts with the community. This report summarizes the latest survey conducted starting August 11, 2023, through September 24, 2023.
ANALYSIS
The City takes pride in delivering outstanding programs and services to the community. An essential gauge of community satisfaction is through polling. The data obtained from these surveys serves as a valuable reference point for setting City Council priorities. City staff utilizes this information to assess programs, services and shaping performance metrics during the annual budget process.
The National Community Survey is one of several methods employed to engage the community and evaluate the perceived quality of City services. This year's response rate was 17%, totaling 603 responses—an improvement from last year’s 398 responses. While historically responses have hovered around 750, or about 23%, this year's 17% response rate, although lower, remains statistically significant. It also aligns with the typical range observed in other jurisdictions, which falls between a 12% to 20% response rate. Following last year's historically low numbers, the City implemented a few changes to enhance participation. These changes included adjusting survey timing to avoid summer and winter breaks, providing multiple
translation options (Simplified Chinese and Spanish), and implementing improvements to the online survey format.
A few highlights in the Key Findings section based on respondent perspectives of the report are provided below, as well as a summary of notable circumstances that may have affected the results.
Palo Alto residents continue to rate their quality of life highly. •About 9 in 10 residents rated Palo Alto, as well as their neighborhood, as an excellent or good place to live. More than 8 in 10 residents highly rated the overall quality of life in Palo Alto, the city as a place to work, and the city as a place to raise children. These ratings were on par with previous years except for Palo Alto as a place to work, which was rated higher in 2023 than 2022. This rating was also higher than the national benchmark.
•More than 7 in 10 residents gave high marks to the city as a place to visit, which was similar to previous years.
•More than half of residents rated Palo Alto as a place to retire as excellent or good. This rating was higher in 2023 compared to 2022.
•While fewer residents in 2023 indicated that they were likely to remain in Palo Alto for the next five years (77% very or somewhat likely), this rating remained similar to the national benchmark.
•More than three-quarters of residents indicated that they would recommend living in the city to someone who asked, which was similar to previous years and the national benchmark.
•Nine in 10 residents would recommend Palo Alto’s libraries to friends, on par with previous years.
While residents were highly satisfied with many City services, they indicate there were areas for improvement with utilities.
•At least 9 in 10 residents gave excellent or good ratings to fire emergency services, Palo Alto open space, City parks, public library services (e.g., hold requests, storytimes, teen events, bookclubs), library facilities (buildings, computer equipment, accessibility), ambulance or emergency medical services, and the variety of library materials (books, e- books, streaming, databases, audiobooks). These ratings were similar to those given in previous years. Palo Alto open space was rated much higher than the national benchmark, and City parks were rated higher than the benchmark. •More than 8 in 10 survey respondents positively rated sewer services, refuse collection (garbage, recycling, yard waste, and e-waste), drinking water, utility payment options, recreation centers or facilities, police services, the preservation of natural areas (open space, farmlands, and greenbelts), recreation programs or classes, and art programs and theater. All ratings were similar when compared to 2022, except for recreation centers or facilities (higher in 2023), and art programs and theater (lower in 2023). Drinking water, recreation centers or facilities, utility payment options, recreation centers, and the preservation of natural areas were all rated higher than the national benchmarks. •More than 8 in 10 residents positively rated the reliability of utility services and utilities online customer self-service features, both on par with previous years. •A number of utility-related questions were rated lower in 2023 compared to 2022, including community value received from the City owning and operating its own municipal utility services (79% excellent or good), speed of response after contacting Utilities department staff (72%), value of Palo Alto Utilities’ customer communications (72%), working hard to keep utilities prices competitive (56%), and the affordability of utility services (51%).
Several unprecedented natural events and gas price hikes made 2023 a challenging year for its customers. The City purchases natural gas at market prices and passes that cost through to customers each month. Last winter market prices in the Western US spiked to unprecedented levels and customers experienced very high bills for December and January usage. State and federal investigations regarding the price spikes are underway. In September 2023, Council approved a change in the gas purchasing strategy for the upcoming winter to include insurance which will provide some mitigation against any unanticipated price spikes.
Additionally, low amounts of hydroelectric generation during the drought, increased transmission costs related to wildfires and the need to accommodate more renewable energy projects in the West, and Palo Alto’s climate-forward programs such as grid modernization all put upward pressure on electric rates. Nonetheless, Palo Alto continues to offer competitive electric rates, 25-50% below PG&E, depending on usage and rate class.
Ratings for Palo Alto government are on the rise.
•More than 6 in 10 residents gave Palo Alto high marks for treating residents with respect, being honest, treating all residents fairly, and informing residents about issues facing the community.
•Nearly 6 in 10 rated the value of services for the taxes paid to Palo Alto and the City being open and transparent to the public as excellent or good. All other aspects of government performance were positively rated by at least half of residents. •Most aspects of government performance were rated higher in 2023 compared to 2022.
These aspects included being honest, treating all residents fairly, informing residents about issues facing the community, the value of services for the taxes paid to Palo Alto, the job Palo Alto does at welcoming resident involvement, and the overall direction that Palo Alto is taking. All other aspects were on par with previous years. •Where benchmark comparisons were available, Palo Alto ranked similar to the national benchmarks.
Community engagement is an ongoing priority of the City, not only in receiving feedback and listening to concerns, but also communicating important information out in a timely manner.
The City does this through various engagement strategies from leveraging its virtual platforms like the City’s website and social media channels, to community newsletters and Council meetings. In the last year, the City brought back in-person Town Hall meetings. Hosted quarterly by different neighborhoods in Palo Alto, the meetings have been well received and attended.
Issues related to affordable housing and cost of living remain a concern for residents, but other community characteristics are highly rated.
•Fewer than 1 in 10 residents positively rated the cost of living in Palo Alto, similar to previous years and much lower than the national benchmark. •About in 1 in 10 survey respondents rated the availability of affordable quality housing as excellent or good, similar to previous years and lower than the national benchmark. •About one-quarter of residents gave high marks to the variety of housing options in the city, similar to previous years and lower than the national benchmark. •Many community characteristics were ranked higher than comparison communities across the nation, including ease of walking in Palo Alto (80% excellent or good), ease of travel by bicycle (77%), opportunities to attend cultural/arts/music activities (72%), shopping opportunities (69%), and employment opportunities (62%). •Compared to 2022, the availability of affordable quality mental health care (38% excellent or good) and ease of travel by public transportation (32%) were rated higher in 2023.
Palo Alto continues to face challenges regarding the cost of living, particularly in terms of the availability of affordable housing. When comparing with other Bay Area cities in the categories of Housing Variety and Availability of Affordable Quality Housing, the positive percentages were similar, at 26% and 11%, respectively.
Also noteworthy is the higher rating in ease of travel by public transportation. In March of 2023 we initiated a new public transportation service, the Palo Alto Link, which provides coverage and service for all residents in Palo Alto. The shift in public sentiment towards public transportation in Palo Alto, coinciding with the introduction of the Palo Alto Link, can be attributed to several factors related to the service.
The attached report includes information on trends over time, geographic and demographic comparisons, national benchmark comparisons, and verbatim responses to open-ended questions. Also, included for awareness in Attachment B is a Bay Area benchmark comparison in areas where information was available.
FISCAL/RESOURCE IMPACT
Funding for the Polco contract was approved in the FY 2024 budget. No additional funding is requested at this time.
STAKEHOLDER ENGAGEMENT
The 2023 Palo Alto Community Survey process is a community engagement tool that helps the City Council and City staff understand community perspectives on current services and programs, as well as unmet needs and priorities. Staff continues to implement the existing community engagement workplan and in early 2024, staff plans to review with Council, planned community engagement efforts implementing the Council priority workplans.
ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEW
Council action on this item is not a project as defined by CEQA because the Community Survey is a continuing administrative or maintenance activity. CEQA Guidelines section 15378(b)(2).
ATTACHMENTS
Attachment A: Palo Alto Community Survey 2023 Report of Results Attachment B: 2023 Palo Alto Bay Area Benchmark Comparisons APPROVED BY:
Ed Shikada, City Manager