City Of Manhattan Beach: Community Survey Results Indicate Residents Value Quality Of Life

Press release from the City of Manhattan Beach:

02/18/2022 3:16 PM

Press Release: Press Release - Community Survey Results Indicate Residents Value Quality of Life (PDF)

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

OFFICE OF COMMUNICATIONS:
Jessica Vincent, Communications and Civic Engagement Manager
jvincent@manhattanbeach.gov I (310) 802-5405

COMMUNITY SURVEY RESULTS INDICATE RESIDENTS FAVOR
QUALITY OF LIFE, CULTURE, AND SAFETY IN MANHATTAN BEACH

COMMUNITY SURVEY RESULTS INDICATE RESIDENTS FAVOR
QUALITY OF LIFE, CULTURE, AND SAFETY IN MANHATTAN BEACH

Manhattan Beach, CA (February 18, 2022) – Results of the Community Opinion Survey that were presented at the City Council meeting on February 15, demonstrate nearly nine out of ten Manhattan Beach residents (88%) are pleased with the City’s overall efforts to provide municipal services.

Manhattan Beach, CA (February 18, 2022)

The randomized, scientifically reliable survey conducted in December 2021, gave residents the opportunity to provide feedback on their satisfaction levels with local government services, as well as funding priorities.

“To best serve our community, it’s important we seek input from residents about their opinions of City services and budget priorities,” said City Manager Bruce Moe.

Key conclusions indicate residents value culture, lifestyle, and safety as follows:

The most important assets to be preserved that the community identified include:

City services identified as most important to the residents include:

Additionally, residents cited they were satisfied with the level of service provided by the City. Respondents were most satisfied with the City’s efforts to:

Manhattan Beach City employees received high marks on each dimension of customer service tested. Ninety-three percent (93%) felt that employees were professional, 89% said they were accessible, and 85% considered staff helpful.

“I am pleased that Manhattan Beach residents are satisfied with our services,” stated City Manager Bruce Moe. “This is reflective of the professional, dedicated efforts of our employees who work hard serving the community day in and day out. They ensure Manhattan Beach is a safe, clean, and family-friendly place to live, recreate, and visit.” With regard to the survey, Moe went on to add, “The data is a key tool in helping us identify our areas of success, and recognize areas of opportunity and improvement in the future.”

While the overall quality of City services and safety of Manhattan Beach was highly ranked, when asked what the community would change to enhance City services, improvements to public safety and more police presence was the feedback most received. Following improvements to public safety was addressing parking issues, enforcing traffic and e-bike laws, and limiting growth and development.

Additionally, with respect to overall quality of life services in Manhattan Beach, perceptions of the City’s efforts to enforce code violations such as construction ordinances, no-smoking regulations, noise ordinances, and dog laws were cited as areas for improvement.

Although homelessness is often identified as a high ranked priority to improve cities, respondents did not identify addressing homelessness as a key issue within Manhattan Beach. However, respondents indicated the importance of incorporating strategies for addressing homelessness. Such strategies include joining with other cities and the county to create more regional homeless shelters; enhancing lighting and modifying benches in public space; providing funding for mental health facilities street outreach, and housing placement; and providing counseling and rehabilitation for drug and alcohol addiction.

Finally, projects identified as top priorities, if funding becomes available include maintenance and infrastructure. Fixing potholes, and repairing and improving streets and sidewalks is the top priority, followed by repairing and upgrading the City’s sewer and wastewater systems, and improving the maintenance of parks and amenities including restrooms, sports courts, and dog runs. Residents may also support redesigning public spaces to allow for outdoor dining, and additional park and recreation facility renovations. However, the items are lower priority in comparison to the City’s maintenance and infrastructure projects.

The City of Manhattan Beach contracted with True North, Inc. to conduct the survey, which captured opinions of a representative sample of 560 randomly selected residents (which is typical of a city the size of Manhattan Beach). The margin of error was + 4.1%, which means that if the entire population of adults were surveyed 95% would rate City services similar to the report findings.

Please see the Community Opinion Survey Summary for a comprehensive look at the survey results.

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This press release was produced by the City of Manhattan Beach. The views expressed here are the author’s own.