Sioux Falls survey: Life is good; roads not so much

Sioux Falls residents give their city high marks when it comes to safety, job opportunities and overall quality of life.

The roads, though, could use some work.

A survey of about 900 Sioux Falls residents conducted in January gauged public opinion on everything from the quality of roads and employment options to whether or not people feel safe in their neighborhood or downtown.

At a press conference Monday, Council Member Dean Karsky announced the survey results.

"We are listening and paying attention to the citizens of Sioux Falls, and this survey will also be on our minds as we consider the mayor's proposed budget in these next coming months," Karsky said.

The survey was sent at random to 3,000 Sioux Falls households.

With a 30 percent return rate, Karsky said 93 percent of respondents said they consider Sioux Falls a good or excellent place to live and would recommend living here, up from the 90 percent who responded the same way during the last citizen survey in 2013.

"What surprised me the most in the survey is truly the optimism from the survey respondents," he said. "You would expect those on the higher income … to rate things as very positive. But we also saw that on the total opposite end of the scale – the younger, lower income – and to me that indicates a very positive outlook for their future in Sioux Falls."

Sioux Falls also got high marks for its employment opportunities, with a 72 percent positive response rate, the second best rate of any of the 270 cities survey in 2015.

"Even though this is a very positive survey, the survey does identify areas for improvement, and that's what we're looking for. Where can we do better?" Karsky said.

With only 37 percent of respondents satisfied with street repairs in the Sioux Falls, Karsky said residents are still concerned about the quality of the roads they drive on.

"When ask how to spend existing tax dollars, 65 percent of the respondents identify streets as very important," he said. "When you add those who believe it is somewhat important to that number, it is nearly unanimous."

The survey also indicated available affordable housing might still be lacking in Sioux Falls, but that wasn't a surprise to Karsky.

"The 49 percent who rated available affordable housing (positively), I would have thought that would have been a bigger concern with the number of people that we have on waiting lists," he said. "But that's a good thing."

When it comes to spending existing tax dollars, survey respondents think job growth, traffic flow and public safety are worthy investments.

"The priorities of our citizens become the priorities of your City Council," Karsky said.

BY THE NUMBERS

93 – percent of respondents say Sioux Falls is a good or excellent place to live

93 – percent positively rated their neighborhood as safe

79 – percent who have an overall feeling of safe in Sioux Falls

46 – percent rated traffic flow positively

68 – percent rated housing options positively

72 – rated employment opportunities positively

For a look at the full survey results, go to http://www.siouxfalls.org/council/2015-citizen-survey.aspx