On the same day the U.S. Census Bureau released figures showing Round Rock is the No. 2 fastest growing city in the country, a survey was released that helps explain why: Citizens here give high marks to the City for quality of life, safety and customer service.

Every two years, the City of Round Rock conducts a statistically valid survey of its citizens to see how well the city government is meeting their needs and to determine the issues of concern to them.

The 2012 survey (PDF, large file) showed high levels of satisfaction with the overall direction of the City. Respondents also indicated residents feel safe overall, as well as in the downtown area, in parks and in their neighborhoods at night. In fact, Round Rock’s results on overall quality and safety were significantly higher than regional and national averages.

Traffic flow remains a significant concern for respondents, especially on state roads and highways.

Results from the 2012 survey, conducted by ETC Institute, were presented to the Round Rock City Council at its Thursday, June 28, meeting.

Key results

Residents were generally satisfied with the overall quality of life in Round Rock. Based upon the combined percentage of “very satisfied” and “satisfied” responses among residents who had an opinion, 86 percent of residents were satisfied with the overall quality of life in the City, 12 percent were neutral and only 2 percent were “dissatisfied.”

Overall Satisfaction with City Services – Seventy-five percent (75 percent) of residents who had an opinion were “very satisfied” or “satisfied” with the overall quality of services provided by the City. The City services with the highest levels of satisfaction were: fire services (86 percent), library services (83 percent), trash, recycling, and yard waste collection services (80 percent), emergency medical services (80 percent), and City parks and recreation programs (77 percent). Residents were least satisfied with transportation planning in the City (45 percent).

Traffic Flow – More than half (59 percent) of residents felt traffic flow in the City was getting worse compared to two years ago; 20 percent felt it was staying the same, 15 percent felt it was getting better and 6 percent did not know. Residents were also asked to rate the traffic flow in different areas of the City; the results showed that 62 percent of residents rated traffic flow in and around neighborhoods as “excellent” or “good” and 28 percent of residents rated traffic flow on state roads and highways as “excellent” or “good.”

Most Residents Felt Safe in Round Rock – Ninety percent (90 percent) of residents who had an opinion felt “very safe” or “safe” in the City. The areas where residents felt most safe were: in their neighborhood during the day (94 percent), in Downtown Round Rock (89 percent), and in their neighborhood at night (86 percent).

Customer Service – Seventy-eight percent (78 percent) of residents who had contacted the City during the past year described the service they received as “excellent” or “good.” The customer service items that residents were most satisfied with, based upon the combined percentage of “very satisfied” and “satisfied” responses among residents who had an opinion, were: the way they were treated (82 percent), how quickly City staff responded to their request (81 percent), and how easy the City was to contact (81 percent).

Other findings

Eighty-three percent (83 percent) of residents are aware of their household’s designated watering days. Of those aware of their designated watering days, 96 percent “always” or “usually” follow the watering schedule for their household.

Sixty-one percent (61 percent) of residents are “very interested” or “interested” in learning more about “water wise landscaping”; 20 percent are “somewhat interested”, and 19 percent are “not interested.”

Sixty-three percent (63 percent) of residents think it is “very important” for Round Rock residents to conserve water; 32 percent think it is “important,” 4 percent think it is “somewhat important,” and 1 percent think it is “not important.”

National benchmarks

ETC Institute also compared City of Round Rock results to national and southwest region benchmarks.

City of Round Rock citizen satisfaction ratings exceeded national and regional rankings for: parks and recreation, code enforcement, streets and sidewalks, stormwater runoff and flood prevention, communication with the public, customer service and library services. Round Rock citizens’ satisfaction with the overall quality of City services was significantly higher than the national average.

Round Rock residents also feel significantly safer in their community, exceeding national and regional benchmarks by as much as 20 points, in two of the four categories queried (feeling of safety in Downtown and in City parks).

The “U.S. Average” reflects the overall results of ETC Institute’s national survey of more than 4,000 residents; the “Southwest Region” shown in the charts reflects the results of the regional survey of 448 residents in Texas, Arizona and New Mexico.