HomeMy WebLinkAbout1983 fo.
1953 DENTON SURVEY
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Prepared by:
Janes J. Glass
j June 1933
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During the months of flay and June 1983, a citizen survey was /
' dEsigned and administered by James J. Glass, independent consultant
for the City of Denton. The 190 citizen survey is the fifth successive
cl~izen survey conducted by Dr. Glass for the city. As a result of the
city council's and city staff's continuing co:rrnitment to the survey
concept, the opportunity to compare citizen evaluations and opinions
over time now exists. The report is divided into six major secions:
methodology, sample characteristics, city services, city administration,
and the appearance of Denton.
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Methodology
A similar methodology to that used in past surveys was employed
for the 1983 project. Again, a systematic random sample was selected
as the most appropriate design for the study. To obtain a reoresenta-
tive sample of all adult residents in the city, 390 completed interviews
wore needed. The actual size of the sample drawn was inflated to 900
to take into account non-working ?,umbers, inappropriate numbers, re- j
fusals, and no contacts. fne sample was selected from the mv5t recent
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edition of the Denton telephone diractory. After selection, the 900
_J numbers were then randomly divided among eight interviewers.
The interviewers were recruited and trained by the consultant.
Training consisted of three basic elements. First, interviewers were
informed about details of the survey. Such items as the reasons for
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doing the survey, the concept of a random sample, and the administration ,
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of the survey were discussed. Second, telephone Interviewing methods
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were presented. The interviewor's attitude. methods of conducting an
interview, interviewing probleus, and e.tandaru proceddures, were covered.
Finally, tiie trainees were familiarized with the questionnaire. Each
question was discussed and the specific instructions on the quustionnaire
were explained. The interviewers were provided with written material
on the interviewing process, and they were instructed to conduct several
practice interviews. All of the interviewers had previous interviewing
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experience so they were familiar with survey research and interviewing
techniques. i
Each interviewer was ,ssigned a quota of 50 completed interviews.
The interviewing was conducted over a period of fifteen days from May 21
to June 6, 1983. Four hundred usable interviews were obtained. The
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number of responses ?xceeds the target number, so the survey population
should be representative of Denton's adult population.
The data are presented iii tabilar form with some descriptive
commend, but with littlr; ;r rrrr;:;atic~ or evaluation. The uujective
is to of i.r! Inc, Staff „d tllt Cn.r. cii tel .IVd72 the results for themselves.
The analysi; of 1pi. Ji,ti it !elver, U-ro steels. P*•st, the marginal per-
c WA gec for each questiun wire calculated. These are displayed in the
JI text as the percent responding "yes" of "no" or "excellent," "good,"
"fair," or "poor" to a question. Upon completion of the first step,
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E each question was then cross-tabulated with the following seven charac-
teristics.
1. Length of residence
2. Owner-renter status.
3. Age
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4• Education f
Sex
The seven characteristics comprise a set of independent variables
that could add more detail to the responses of the residents. None of
the seven characteristics proved to be consistently useful in detailing
the results. However, each added detail to certain of the responses.
In each of the following sections, the 1983 survey results are
compared with past survey data when possible. Comparisons are made only
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when the questions asked were the same or similar. When 1983 results
f, are presented alone, either the question was not asked previously or its ;
wording was altered significantly.
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Sample Characteristics I
Table 1 presents a summary of the descriptive characteristics of
the sampls. Data on most of these characteristics were also gathered
in previous surveys. As in the other surveys, Denton may be described
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generally as a predominantly white. middle to upper-income, well-
educated community. The population is divided approximately equally
between those 35 years of age and younger and those who are 36 and older.
Additionally, there is a significant percentage (16,2) who are 61 and
older. A majority of respondents (59.4 per cent) owned their own home.
That Denton is a stable community is evidenced by the fart that 15.0
per cent of the sample stated they had lived in Denton for 6 to 10 Years )
and 42.5 per cent stated they had lived in Denton for more than 10 years.
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TA-M I
Sample Craracteristics
Per cent
Characteristic
1983 1982 1981 1980 1979
Age 23.5 26.0 22.9 29.3 24.4
18-25 28.0 26.2 23.6 25.7 28.4
26-35 16.9 13.7 18.1 14.9 16.0
36-45 15.4 16.3 16.8 14.6 16.3
46-60 16.2 17,8 18.6 15.6 14.9
61 and over
Sex 45.0 44.9 44.2 40.5 40.6
Male 55.0 54.8 55.7 59.5 59.4
Female
Race White 88.4 88.8 88.8 89.9 87.?
Black 7.1 611 5.2 6.9 7.2
Hispanic 1.5 3.3 3.4 1.2 3.2
Other 3.0 1.8 1.8 2.1 2.3
Homeownership {
Own 59.4 54.7 51.2 53.'1 60.2
Rent 40 6 45.3 42.7 46.3 39.8 k
Income 10.6 9.7 9.4 16.7 14.2
Less than $5,000 11.3 15.8 19.1 17.4 18.7
$5,000-59,999 1q g 16.9 11.0 13.0 20.5
510,009-8140999 19 .9 20.8 24.3 25.1 230
$15,000-524,999 36.2 27.8 23.6
$25,000 and over
;25,000.534,000 1117..5 9 1613.4
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$351000-549,000
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$50,000 and over 14.0 7.2
Education 4.1 3 1 2.5 3.9 5.5
Less than 8 years 3.0 5.6 6.6 6.3 4.6
Some High School
High School Graduate 24.6 21.2 18.5 15.5 18.7 a
Some College 20.0 24.3 28.4 26.8 27.9
college Graduate 26.6 23.8 19.0 19.9 19.3
Some Graduate School/ 21.8 21.9 24.6 27,7 24.1
Graduate Degree
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TABLE 1 (Continued)
Characteristic
1983 1982 1981 1980 1979
Length of Residence
3-12 months 7,8 7.3 5.5 9.5 le .0
1-5 years 34.7 33.9 35.0 33.7 32.5
6-10 years 15.0 17.7 15.5 18.9 16.0
more than 10 years 42.5 41.4 43.R 7.9 39.6
Household Eenber }la adicapoe~
Yes 5,1 7:5
No 94.9 92.4
FIdCP lit ri~Yw
DCnLC'1 78.f 34.4 -
Dallis 7.3 6.3
Fort Worth 2.9 1.6
Lewisville 4.4 1.6
Other 6.2 6.1 The high percentage of hone ownership may be a contributing factor to
Denton's stability. A large majority of Denton residents work in the
city.
The similarity among the percentages of the various characteristics
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over the five surveys is a very positive sign. In almost all casss, the
percentages associated with the categories of each characteristic vary by
6 per cent or less, As a result of the similar percentages obtained over
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the five surveys, we can be increasingl; confident that each sample was
representative of the adult population of Denton.
City Services
The largest number of survey questions concerned services provided
f by the city. This section of the report presents responses to the
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service questions. Included are the following services or service
concerns.
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1. Streets
2. Recreation and Libaries
3. Garbage Collection
4. Emergency Services
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5. Animal Control
6. Service Ratings
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7. Service Reductions
Streets
Respondents continue to rate Denton's streets and road surfaces as
less than good as may be seen in Table 2. Residents of 10 years or more,
homeowners, and whites were the most critical of Denton's streets.
TABLE 2
E Condition of Street and Road Surfaces
0.393)*
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Rating Per cent
I 1983, 1982 1981 1?80 1979
Good all over 1.3 4.3 1.8 2.i 2.0
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Mostly good 44.3 43.9 41.3 46.1 40.8
Many bad spots 54.4 $1.8 51.8 51.8 57.2
s are or t e 1 survEy. #
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As 1~ n the 1922 su-ve5, a specific question on willingness to pay
for street improvements was asked. As may be seen in Table 1, in 10,33 an
even larger majority of those responding were in favor of additional
taxes to maim fi; and imrrov2 streets.
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TAM 3
Favor or Oppose Additional Tax For
Street Maintenance
(N=341)
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Response Per -ent
1983 1982 1981*
72.7 62.0 66.6
Favor
Oppose 27.3 38.0 33.4
*The wording o the quest n was TaTtere slightly fr*,m the 1981
survey.
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Those respondents more likelL to favor a tax increase came from the
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following groups: Renters, whites, and those in the 18-45 age group.
I1 There was no apparent relationshio between income and favoring a tax
increase.
Fho,e whD 5a1~ V':~ '3Por'L tax increase for streets were asked
how much of a monthly incredse in taxes they would accept. The results
are presented in Table 4.
As might be expected, in both the 1983 and 1982 surveys, the
majority of those who favored an increase selected :he smallest increase
category. However, 16.6 per cent in, 1982 and 8.0 per cent in 1983 said
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they would favor whatever size increase that was necessary. I
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W'.IM1Y
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Sig„ „t 1 .re;se lur:
( 2131
Per tent
Response _
1983 1982
;r 4.00 56.8 57.3
$ 6.00 26.8 16.6
5 8.00 4.2 3.8
S10.00 3.8 5.7
As much as necessary 810 16.6
Despite the fact that respondents have identified streets as a
major problem in each of the city's citizen surveys, citizens have failed
to pass two bend issues for street repair and improvement. Since voter
turnout in both bond elections was typically low, respondents who did I
not vote in the bond election were asked why they did not vote and all
respondents were asked to suggest strategies to improve voter turnout.
For those who did not vote in the election, 35 per cent said they
were not aware the election was being held and 15 per cent said they were a
not interested in the election. The other significant percentage was the
20 per cent who said they were not in town during the election. A signi-
ficant majority, 69 per cent, stated they would do more to publicize the
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bond issue and inform citizens as tQ why the issue was needed in order to
improve turnout. The question or ways to improve voter turnout was askedi
of all respondents.
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Ar attempt was made to develop a profile of respondents who voted
in the 198Z street bond election. Eighteen per cent of the respondents
indicated that they had voted in the bond election. It is not likely
that the sanple actually included that many bond election voters, since
the turnout was so small. Rather the observed percentage includes those
who voted in the election, those who confused the 1982 election with
another city election, and those who did not vote at all.
Even though the percentage who said they voted in the bond election
is inflated and, as a result, some interpretation problems did exist, a
definite voter profile did emerge when the data were analyzed. More whites
than Blacks voted (46 compared to 20 percent), voting was more likely in
the 36 and over age group, and voting increased with iencth of residence,
income, and education. The differences among the observed percentages
ilere great enough so that the stated voter profile remains accurate
even after reductions are made to account for possible erro-s resulting
from incorrect responses.
Library and Recreational Services
Respondents were asked whether they had used the Denton Public
Library in the past 12 months and 58.2 per cent said they had used the
library. Fiore owners than renters (64 per cent to 50 per cent), and
more whites than blacks (60 per cent to 32 per cent) were likely to use
the library. In addition, library use increased with income and
education. Patterns of use among those in the 61 years and older
category were significantly d'.fferent than among the younger groups.
Only 33 per cent of those 61 years and older used the library compared to
a usage rate of 51 per cent or more in all other age groups.
Those respondents who used the library were asked to rate the
services offered. The results are presented i, Table 5 along with then
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rankings from pret•ioos surveys. the 1933 and 198? results should be pore
accurate than those of previous surveys, since in each of the three
other surveys all respondents, not just users, were asked to rate library
services.
TABLE 5
Ratings of Library Services
M-227;
Ratinj Per cent
1983 1962 1931 1980 1979
Excellent 41.4 42.9 22.7 21.6 31.6
Good 49.3 49.1 58.7 59.6 50.6
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fair 13 4 7.5 14.5 17.4 13.3
Poor 1.9 016 4.1 1.4 4.0 i
Respondents were then asked whether or not they or members of their
fami'y had used any of Denton's park or recreational facilities during
the past 12 months and 68.2 said that they had. Use of park and
recreational facilities was fairly consistent across the various cate-
gories, except in the 61 and older age g f use
was reported.
Recreational facility users then i `acilities. i
Again, the results are presented along tings
(see Table 6). As with the library ratI6g9$-tne•ina., ..:'park and
recreational ratings should be more accurate because only users were,
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,aikings from pretiiovs surveys. The 1933 and 1932 results should be rare
accurate than those of previous surveys, since in each of the three
other surveys all respondents, not just users, were asked to rate library
services.
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TABLE 5
Ratings of Library Services
(N=227)
Rating Per cent
1983 1982 1931 1980 1979
Excellent 41.4 42.9 72.7 21.6 31.6
Good 49.3 49.1 53.7 59.6 50.6 3
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fair g 4 7.5 14.5 0.4 13.8
I.+°..__ U.u 4.1 1.4 4.0
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Respondents wire then asked o-shether or not they or members of their
family had used any of n )ton's park or recreational facilities during r.
the past 12 months and t said that they had. Use of park and
recreational facilities w, fairly consistent across the various cate-
gories, except in the 61 a gilder age group where a low rate of use
was reported,
Recreational f y users then were asked to rate the facilities. '
Again, the rc - re presented along with previous survey ratings
{see Tablr As with the library ratings, the 1983 and 1982 park and
recreational ratings should be more accurate because only users were rt
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asked to rate the facilities, althou,h even when all the park and
recreational ratings are examined, there as,e only slight differences
from year to year.
TABLE 6
Rating of dark and Recreational Facilities
(N=274)
Rating Per cent
1983 1982 1481 1980 1979
Excellent 23.0 20.9 25.7 15.6 26.2
Good 63.1 64.4 57.1 65.2 55.5
Fair 12.4 13.4 14.7 16.6 15.1
Poor 1.5 1.3 2.4 2.6 3.2
Garbage and Brush Collection
The city's solid waste collection services continue to operate
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problems according to respondents, (See Table 7). ~i
I Respondents were asked if they would be willing to pay higher
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c rates for solid waste collection if the increase was !ised to help
{ finance a recycling or resource recovery system. The responses to the
rate question are'displayed in Table 8. Over three surveys the responses
i to this question have varied. From the range of percentages, it would
be safe to assume that a slight majority of residents would favor such
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a program.
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TABLE 7
Garbage Collection Missed
(N=364)
Per cent
Times Missed
1983 1982 1981 1880 1979
83.0 78.2 81.5 85.5 76.2
None
1-2 9.3 14.7 13.2 10.2 20.2 I
4.1 3.8 1.6 1.5 3.3
3-4
or more 3.6 3.0 3.7 2.8 3.8
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TABLE 8
Favor Rate increase To svDport
Resource Recuver9 ,
(N=311)
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,ev cent
kespuns
1983 1982 1981
58.2 49.4 61.5
Favor
41.8 50.6 38.5
Oppose
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Renters and those aged 18-60, were more likely to favor a rate i
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increase than were their counterparts. i
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Emergency Services 1`
Questions were asked about the police, Oenton's crime prevention u
program, neighborhood safety, fire protection and the ambulance service ,
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and are discussed here under the general heading of emergency services.
The first question asked whether respondents had requested the services
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of Denton's police Department during the past 12 mon and 28'6 reported
provided
contact. Those who had contact were asked to rate the services p
by the police department. The results are shown in Table 9.
Table 9
Police De artme }t Service
1, Per cent
Responses _
1983 1982
38.9 36.8
Excellent
47.8 40.1
Good 8.8 19.1
Fair
4.4 3.3
Poor
f Excellent ratings were more likely among homeowners (46 per cent)
than renters (26 per cent). Of the white respondents, 80 per cent rated
the services of the department as excellent to good as compared to 61
6 per
cent of the Black respondents. Similarly, 9r cent of the females
compared to 74 per cent of the males rated the department's services as f
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excellent to good.
For the first time in the 1983 survey, respondents who had contacted y
ho resounded
the police were also asked to rate the officer w to their call.
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k The officer ratings are presented in Table 10.
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TABLE 10
Ratings of Police Officers
(N=114)
Per cent
Responses _ -
Excellent 52.3
Good 37.4
Fair 4.7
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Poor 5.6
Compared to the department's ratings, the ratings of services'pro-
vided by officers are higher, particularly in the excellent category.
Homeowners, those in the over £6 age group, and whites were more likely
to rata ofFicers as exccl1~nt thr,n §r~re their counterparts.
w.re vier asked severdl questions about Denton's crime
prevention prograa, Responses to all the questions asked about the
I i crime prevention program are suunarized in Table 11. Respondents were I
first asked whether they were aware of the program, to the 1983 survey
81.2 per cent said they were aware. That percentage represents a a
substantial increase over the percent responding "aware" in 1982.
Homeowners were far more likely than renters to be aware of the crime
prevention program (91 compared to 67 percent). Whites were also more
aware of the program than were Blacks (84 compared to 55 per cent).
Awareness also increased with length of residence and income.
As did awareness, participation in the crime prevention program
also showed an increase over the 1982 responses. In keeping with the
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TABLE 11
Denton`s Crime Prevention Program
Per cent
i Aware of Program (N-39B)
1983 1982
f Yes 81.2 47.7
1818 52.
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Per cent
Participation in Program (N=323)
1983 1982
Yes 26.6 14.9
73.4 85.1
N--------------------------------------------------
Per cent
Safer Because of Crime Prevention (N-297)
1983 1982
Safer 34.7 35.0
63.3 62.9
~ Same
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Less Safe ------2.
...----------2..
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Per cent
Interested in Participating (14=287)
1983 1982
62.0 64,1
Yes
39-0 35.3
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above observations, homeowners, longer-term residents, and those with
higher incomes were more likely to participate than their counterparts.
Interestingly, participation rates for whites and Blacks were about the
same.
All those who were aware of the crime prevention program were
asl:ed whether they felt safer because of the program, and 34.7 per cent
said they did feel safer. Finali,~:, those who were not aware of the
program and those who had not participated were asked if they were
interested in participating and 62 per cent said they were. That
percentage is virtually the same as the 64 per cent who said they
were interested in participating in 19817
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Respondents were also asked how safe they felt walking alone in
their neighborhoods at night. As Table 1? illustrates, there appears
to be a definite trend among those responding "very safe." The
percent in the very safe category has declined each year and amounts A
to a decrease of 12.8 per cent from 1979 and 1983. This observation
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is modified somewhat by the relative constant percentage in the "very 1
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unsafe" category. '
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Older residents (36 per cent in the 61 plus age group lel t very i
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unsafe), females, and those in the less than $5,000 income category felt a
a lp.;; :~t°~^ ~',rn r•„pir ~n~~ntar~~,~rtc,
of ite re, ordents. called the Fire Departrant
in the past year and their ratings of the service provided are displayed
in Table 13.
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TABLE 12
Safety of Nei hborhood
(N=371)
Per cent
Rating _
1983 1982 1981 19Q0 1979
33.2 37.0 41.0 42.1 46.0
Very Safe
41.6 38.1 32.6 29.6 29.8
Somewhat Safe
Somewhat Unsafe 13.3 15.3 14.6 1a.8 15.3
11.9 9.7 11.8 12.5 8.8
Very Unsafe -
TABLE 13
Fire Se vi21)Rating
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Per cent
Rating
1983 1982 1981 1980 1974
54.5 65.7 82.6 58.3 61.8
Excellent
36.4 14,3 4.3 29.2 20.6 ~
Good i
4.5 0.0 4.3 0.0 14.7
Fair
4.-5 0.0 8.7 12.5 2.9
Poor
There appeors to be a definite drop in the 1933 fire service
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ratings. '1n part, this may be attributed to the larger num~er of
respondents who rated the fire service in 1983 (21) than in 1982 (7).
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In other v,ords, the 1932 ratirys might have been snmewhat ckexed as a
result of the small nunber of people who rated the service.
Similarly, those who called for an ambulance (6.0 per cent) were
asked to rate that service. Although the per cent rating ambulance
service as excellent did decline, all respondents rated the service as
excellent or good.
TABLE 14
Ambulance Service Rating
N- 24
Per Cent _
Rating
1983 1982 1981 1980 191_9_ ;
59,1 75.o 60.6 46.9 55.2
Excellent
40.9 20.0 30.3 34.4 27.6
Good 3.1 3.4
0.0 5.0 b.l
Fair ?
,I _0.0 0.0_.w3.0 1~.6^ 13.8
Poor
Animal Control
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In tine '983 survey, 16.4 per cent of the respondents indicated that ,
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they had called the city about an animal control problem. Those who
called about animal control w^.re asked to rate the service. The
differences among the four rating categories between 1982 and 1983 are
probably Pot significant.
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TABLE 15
Animal C. ;Col Ratings
(N=65)
Per cent
Response
1983 1982
Excellent 20.0 17.9
Good 40.0 37.5
Fair 12.3 17.9
Poor 27.7 26.8
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Service Ratings
in this section the responses to two questions about nine basic
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city services are presented. The first question asked whether much,
soMe, or no improvement was needed for each service and the second asked
whether the service should be reduced if that were the only w,ay to keep
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taxes and rates at their present levels.
The responses to the question about service improvement are
presented in Table 16. The responses are ranked from the highest to
lowest based on the percent responding "much improvement." In the
fourth column, headed M + 5, the "much improvement" and "some
improvement" responses have been summed to obtain the total percentage of
respondents who felt the service needed improvement.
There is an obvious and significant drop from street maintenance ) I
where 49.4 per cent stated much improvement was needed, to electric
services, where only 8.8 per cent responded similarly. Looking at the
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TABLE 16
Service Improvements 198.;
Rar k Service Much Some No M + S! V k(I 'k ,,,I
1 Street Maintenance 49.4 44.8 5.9 94.2
2 Electric Services 8.8 27.1 64.1 35.9
3 Garbage Collection 6.3 33.3 (10.3 39,6
4 Recreational Services 5.2 39.8 55.0 45.0
5 Police Protection 3.9 39.6 56.5 43.5
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{ 6 Water Services 3.2 19.5 77.3 22.7
7 Sewer Services 2.7 22.2 75.1 24,9
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8 Library Services 2.1 27.0 70.9 29.1
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9 Fire Protection 1.7 22.7 75.7 24.4 t
~ J~~lu."nu,u11'wr~xa,r,..,,,~~r Mnd r sosr,¢~w~nvi^ Ac~en~td hautt~aw, o..~4d1.~,~1~jr
M + 5 column, ly foreemYlntenance d majority see a neeg~ or~~
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improvement. And only for police and recreational services did 40 per j
tent or more see the need for some improvement.
For all services, except police protection, those 61 years of
age and older were more likely to respond that no improvement was
necessary than were those in the ether age groups. Also, a higher
percentage of elacis than whites felt much improvement was necessary in
In lablts 17, 186 19, dni 2o the service ratings obtained in 1982. `
1981, 1980, and 1979 are presented. %The same ranking procedure discussed
above was used in each of the other surveys.
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TAE! £ 1l
vice ilit,rcvcncl ; ?;8?
- "Service , Mu h Some No hi +
Park
1 Street Maintenance 36.9 52.3 10.5 89.2
2 Police 4.6 43.1 52.3 47.7
3 Garbage Collection 3.6 28.9 67.4 32.6
4 Recreation 3.1 37.3 59.6 40.4
1.5 29.4 69.1 30.9
5 Fire
0.8 24.5 74.7 25.3
6 Library
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TABLE 18
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Service Improvement 1981
Rank Service Much Some No M + S I
I Street Maintenance 36.9 52.3 10.8 89.2 i
2 Police 4.6 43.1 52.3 52.3
3 Library E Recreation 4.4 38.5 57.2 42.9
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4 Fire 2.6 29.6 67.8 32.2 4
5 Garbage collection 2.1 39.0 58.9 41.1
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TABLE 19
Service Improvement 1980
Rank Service Much Some No M + S
1 Street MaU,tenancr 40.2 44.1 15.6 64.3
i 2 Recreation 7.8 46.1 46.1 53.9
3 Police 7.2 46.6 46.2 53.8
4 Garbage 5.7 41.9 52.4 47.5
5 Library 2.2 27.4 70.4 29.6
6 Fire _i 1.5 26.7 71.8 28.2
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TABLE 20
Service improvement 1979 $
Rank Service Much Some No M + S
1 Street Maintenance 48.1 34.6 17.3 82.7
2 Recreation 7.3 29.6 63.1 36.9 {
{ 3 Police 6.5 29,2 64.3 35.7
4 Garbage 3.8 28.8 67.4 32.6 9
5 Library. 3.5 25,3 71.2 29,8 i
t 6 Fire 2.7 18.9 78.4 21.6
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The most obvious conclusion from the five data sets is that street
are ranked as the number one problem by a large number of respondents.
Shifts in the rankings for the other services have occurred over the
five surveys, however, the percentages involved in the "much improvement"
category for all services except streets are small, and the loq'cal con-
clusion is that the rcmairing services are s?en es similar in terms of
ine amount
S~:rvic~NerlJ~tirns
Respondents were read the nine services again and they were asked
whether they would favor reducing any of them in order to keep taxes
and rates the some as they are today. The services are ranked from the
highest to lowest percent saying "yes" in the 1983 survey. a
TABLE 21
Percent Responding Service Should Be Reduced
Rank f Service 1983 1982 1981 1980 1979
k 1 Recreation 45.6 40.9 33.6' 42.3 25.4
Library 38.2 38.4 33.6* 35.2 20.1
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~ 3 Garbage Collection 27.8 30.1 24.7 22,4 17.0
4 Energy Services 22.9 Y '
5 Water Services 17.3
6 Street Maintenance 15.0 19.7 12.0 15.9 10.7 $
X 1
7 Sevier Services 13.7
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8 Police Protection 7.1 4.4 5.4 11.5 8.3 t
5.8 3.7 3.4 8.4 6.8
9 Fire Protection
+~ecreat on an rary services were com ne n e survey. J
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In the 1993 survey three services, energy, water, and sewer,
were added to the list in the questionnaire. In no instnace did a
majority favor reducing any service, although recreation and library
services exhibit fairly high percentages in the reduce category. If
the three services added in 1983 are taken out, the order of services
based on the percent responding "reduce" has remained the same over the
five surveys.
City Administration
In this section of the report, various aspects of city adminis-
tration are discussed. The topics include direct assessments of city
operation, services that are being classified as administrative, and
activities, such as the city's efforts to attract industry, that are
difficult to place in other categories.
Respondents were asked whether they had contacted any city officials
about a complaint, a request for service, or for information in the past
12 months and 24.9 per cent said they had contacted a city official.
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Those who had made a contact then were asked who they contacted, whether
they were satisfied with the results, and whether the individual was g
helpful. Table 22 presents the responses to all these questions.
More owners (30 per cent) than renters (17 per cent) and more
whites (27 per cent) than Blacks (8 per cent) contacted the city.
Contacts also increased with education and income. The response
patterns for the office contacted, tqe degree of satisfaction, and the ;r
opinion of the contact have remained relatively constant over the four ;
surveys.
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TABLE 22
Contact With City
Office Contacted (Nz99) Per cent
1983 1982 1981 1980 1979
City Manager 11.6 6.4 6.0 8.3 5.3
Mayor or Council 6.3 6.4 4.6 510 7.6
Police 6.3 12.8 11.9 15.7 15.2
City-Attorney 3.2 5.1 3.3 1.7
Municipal Court Clerk 3.2
Utility Service 43.2 32.1 30.5 26 A 43.8
Other 16.3 37.2 24.5 24.8 28.1
k
Satisfaction (N=90)
Satisfied uJ 75.8 71.2 67.3 66.1 65..
4ot Satisfied 23.2 21.2 31.5 33.1 38.2
Not Complete 1.0 7.5 1.2 0.8 4.1
Opinion of Contact 0998)
87.8 86.1 83.0 81.6 79.9
Helpful
E
Not Helpful 12.2 13.9 17.0 18.4 20.1 '
)
In the 1983 and 1982 surveys several questions about utility
3
killings were asked. First, respondents were asked whether they had
d
experienced a problem with their utility bill in the past 12 months and
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in 1983, 25.3, and in 1982, 28.5 per cent. in both surveys incorrect
billing was the most cornron problem (51 per cent in 1983 and 54 per cent
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in 1982), followed by meter reading errors (25 per cent in 1983 and 21
per cent in 1982). Finally, respondents were asked if the problem was
satisfactorily resolved. In the 1983 survey, 57 per cent of the
respondents said the problem was resolved and in 1982, 53.2 said it was
resolved.
In a general question on city administration, respondents were
asked to rate the way the city was run. The rpsults are presented in
Table 23.
1
Table 23
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Now Well is Denton Run?
(N=392)
Rating Per cent
1983 1982 1981 1980 1979
Excellent !
9,9 10.1 8.1 6.3 9,7
Good 67.9 61.9 60.9 58.5 47,6
~ Fair
19.6 24.1 26.8 32,0 32.4
Poor 218 3.9 4.2 3.2 10.3
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Although for each year the differences among percentages in each
rating category ar% small, if you sum the excellent and good categories,
there has been a definite and steady improvement in citizen ratings froM
57.3 per cent in 1979 to 77,8 per cent in 1983.
Respondents were also asked several questions about zoning in the
city. First, they were asked whether they had been involved in a zoning
case in the past 12 months and 11.2 per cent said that they had been
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involved in a zoning case. Involvement in zoning cases increased with
income. Those who responded positively then were asked whether the case
had been handled fairly and 86 per cent said yes. Those who said no
were asked what the problem was in the procedures, and most indicated
that they were dissatisfied with the outcome of the case. Finally,
respondents were asked to rate the effectiveness of zoning in Denton.
The effectiveness ratings are displayed in Table 24.
TABLE 24
Effectiveness of Zoning
(N=287)
1 Rating Per cent
Very Effective 8.0
Effective 69.3
Not Very Effective 22.7
1
Respondents also were asked whether they had enough information
about the issues and problems facing Denton and its citizens. The
following responses were obtained (see Table 25).
TABLE 25
Do You Have Enough Information?
(N•3B0)
Per cent
Response
1983 1982 1981 1980 1979
Yes 58.9 62.6 60.5 59.1 48.7
No 41.1 37.3 39.5 40.6 51,3
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Two final topics are included in the city administration section.
First, respondents were asked whether they were aware of the efforts the
city has made to attract new industry and 45.2 per cent said they were
awore of the efforts, Homeowners, whites, and those in the higher income
categories were more likely to be aw.re of the efforts than their counter-
parts. Respondents were also asked whether trey would replace their
central air conditioning unit with one of higher efficiency if they were
to receive a rebate to help offset the cost. Fifty-nine per cent of the
respondents said they would oe interested in such a rebate program.
Living in Denton
this section of the report presents the responses to a series of
questions about Denton as a place to live. First, new residents (less
than one year) were asked why they moved to Denton. Although there were
only 31 people in this category, most said either a job (45 per cent)
or college (38 per cent) caused them to move to Uenton.
A second question dealt with the appearance of neighborhoods,
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Table 26 presents the responses to the question that asked respondents
f to rate Their neighborhood in tenns of cleanliness, quality of houses,
E and general appearance.
Homeowners, whites, and these with incomes of $35,000 and above
were much more likely to rate their neighborhood as excellent than were
their counterparts,
Respondents were asked whether, portable advertising signs, litter,
dirty neighborhoods, dunked cars, abandoned houses and tack of greet,
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TABLE 26
Neighborhood Rating J
(Nt398)
Rating Per cent
1983 1982 1981
Excellent 24.9 25.3 24.2
Good 51.5 51.0 48.7
Fair 21.1 20.4 23.2
Poor 2.5 3.3 3.7
space in business areas detracted frcre the beauty of Denton a lot, a
little, or n,l .:t all. The folli)wing responses were obtained. j
MOLE 2'/
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Appearance of Denton - 1983
A Lot A Little Not At All !
Detraction
Signs f 29.2 48.6 22,2
64.4 26.5 9.1 1
Litter
Dirty Neighborhoods 63.2 29.6 7.2
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Junk Cars $9.6 24.7 15.7
Abandon NHouses 5610 32.8 11.2
Y
Lack of Green Space in 26.8 41.9 31.4
Business Areas
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As may be seen, advertizin7 signs and lack of green space in
business areas were the least troublesome problems. The other problems
received similar percentages in all three response categories.
A following question asked respondents what could be done to
improve the appp.arance of Denton. Uvert~,helmingly, respondents suggested
planting more trees, shrubs, and flowers.
In previous surveys a similar question was asked, however,
respondents were told to respond yes or no to each area. The responses
i
from previous surveys are presented in Table 28, Even though signs and
green space received a majority of "yes" responses, their ranking in
past surveys was the same as in the 1983 survey.
i
Table 28
{
Appearance of Denton 1982-1980
s
Detraction Per cent Responding Yes
~ s
1982 1981 1980
A
Signs 53.6 48.3 46.9
Litter 79.4 72.6 64.5
Dirty Neighborhuods 82.1 75.4 55.2 i
Junk Cars 77.1
Abandoned houses 77,9
Lack of green space in 54.9
business areas
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Respondents were then asked how they rated Denton as a place to
live and the results of that question are displayed in Table 29.
TABLE 29
Rating of Denton As A Place To Live
(N=397)
Rating Per cent
1983 1982 1981 1980 1979
i Excellent 38.0 39.1 45.2 35.5 45.3
Good 49.9 50.5 45.0 52.4 42.2
Fair 10.8 9.4 8.5 10.9 10.5
Poor 1.3 110 1.2 112 2.0
M
Denton reside its {;+rTnur t? ;I, ,...•a., is 'r•r:eli?nt" to 'good" #
p13ce to live. SsVcifically. Moore ho9'eo~gnars ki,an renters (49 to 23
I
per cent), more whites than Slacks (40 to 23 per cent), and those with
higher incomes rate Denton as an excellent place to live.
I Summa ry
The usefulness of the survey continues to increase. Trends and
patters are developing and it is becoming possible to identify deviations
from past findings that suggest trouble spots or areas that require some
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j attention. That only slight changes have occurred in reponses to many
!I questions help in setting typical response patterns that can then be
used as benchmarks to aid in discovering deviations In the future.
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As in previous surveys every attempt has been made to offer the
findings in an obJective fashion. Where appropriate, the descriptive
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r characteristics have been utilized to provide greater detail to the
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responses. This standardized reporting format should make the report
and the information it contains more useful to the staff and council.
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