The City of Charlottesville sent out postcards to 1,200 households Monday asking for participation in the National Citizen Survey, which will gauge citizens’ opinions about the usefulness of city services.
The National Citizen Survey, conducted by the National Research Center, has been used by 44 states in the last 14 years. Its overarching purpose, as indicated by the center’s website, is to measure a community’s “livability” by collecting residents’ rankings of factors such as safety, education and enrichment, and mobility.
The actual survey will be sent to Charlottesville households in a few weeks — and a followup with be sent to those left unanswered.
A report will then be generated by the National Research Center, and the results of the survey will be used to help with the city's strategic planning, said Charlottesville spokesperson Miriam Dickler.
“It’s important for us as an organization and a city to know how our services are reaching our community and what we’re doing well and what we can do better,” Dickler said.
Though the national survey is standardized, it can be customized for each different city to better gauge public opinion.
“This is a way for us to find out from our citizens what they’re looking for us to address,” Dickler said. “Not every community has a university. We want to see how citizens feel about how we’re building partnerships with U.Va. and other organizations.”
The standard timeline for the survey is approximately 17 weeks, beginning with the city’s registration.
City funding is used to conduct the survey, and the estimated cost this year is $13,650 — up from $12,600 when the survey was conducted in 2012 because of the addition of a demographic subgroup comparison.
“It’s important to check up on how we’re doing every couple of years,” Dickler said. “We want to be sure we’re moving in an as efficient way as possible and see where we can make adjustments.”
Leslie Beauregard, Charlottesville's director of budget and performance management, will present the results generated by the survey to City Council by the end of December. The presentation will be available online for public access afterward.
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