Rochester On The Right Track: Residents

ROCHESTER, MI — Rochester residents like their city. At least that’s what they appeared to be saying in results of a recently conducted survey. Rochester received good to excellent marks in numerous categories, including: quality of life, image and reputation, the quality of parks and more.

Bottom line? Residents think Rochester is a great place to raise a family. City officials conducted the survey to get feedback about the services they’re providing to residents and community participation, among other other topics. In other words, it’s a good way to find out what’s being done right and what needs a little improvement.

The city received nearly 1,200 responses to the survey, which was designed to draw comparisons to a 2009 survey. Of 33 categories that were directly comparable, 19 received the same or higher percentage of "excellent" or "good" responses in 2017. The survey also provided respondents the opportunity to complete open-response sections for each of the 13 overarching categories, providing more in-depth information about how participants feel about their community.

And that feeling is a good one. The city received a 93 percent or better rating by respondents in the following categories:

• Feeling of safety during the day
• Maintenance of public parks and trees
• Quality of rivers and trails
• Appearance of Residential Neighborhoods
• Physical appearance of the downtown area
• Availability of public library services
• Law enforcement services
• Fire protection services

Even in areas residents felt the city had room to improve, more than 50 percent said still rated services as good or excellent. Eight out of ten respondents rated the overall direction of the city as good or excellent, too.

City officials said the survey had a 3 percent margin of error with a 95 percent confidence level. It means that based on the number of responses received, officials are 95 percent confident that this sample represents the entire community.

The full report can be found through the following link. If you have any questions or concerns, contact the city via e-mail at citymanager@rochestermi.org, or call the City at (248) 651-9061.

Photo courtesy of the city of Rochester