Homelessness is the top issue facing Portland according to a survey of residents’ views published by the government Friday, with 88 percent of survey-takers saying they were dissatisfied with how City Hall has approached the issue.

Despite unhappiness about the government’s approach to addressing homelessness, the survey did not ask Portlanders what they would like done about the problem, which may limit its usefulness to policymakers.

The survey, the first published in three years, sought to evaluate how Portlanders feel about their city and its government. It found optimism is mixed — 45 percent of respondents said they felt positively about the city’s future, while an equal number declaring their pessimism. And 40 percent said the high cost of living in Portland is a top challenge.

Along with dissatisfaction about homelessness, many survey-takers said they were also unhappy about open drug use on city streets.

Results likely would have been more unflattering if officials did not weight the survey responses based on the race of respondents. Responses from the 12 percent of survey takers who declined to state their race were disregarded. Those people were “more likely to feel negatively about the future of Portland," according to the survey report. They were also more likely to name safety and trust in government as city challenges.

Overall, respondents rated the category of increasing affordable housing and addressing homelessness as their top spending priority in the next two years. The next-highest priority was spending on transportation and infrastructure such as sidewalks.

White respondents said spending on police services should also be a high priority. Asian, black and Hispanic survey-takers said economic development initiatives such as job creation and cutting red tape for businesses were higher priorities than police.

Nearly 40 percent of respondents also said they were not satisfied that Portland’s police force would protect them from violent crimes. Asked what to do about that, black respondents said better communication between police and residents was their highest priority, while white ones said a greater police presence in neighborhoods was necessary.

Satisfaction with police protection from violent crimes and property crimes was lowest among East Portland residents.

Survey results show Portlanders are sharply divided on issues of race.

Asked to react to the statement that Portland is “making progress on becoming a city where a person’s outcomes are not based on their race,” 40 percent of respondents agreed with its sentiment and an equal number disagreed. Black residents were most likely to disagree.

Survey-takers also noted many positive attributes of living in Portland. Residents love access to parks and outdoor areas, and 97 percent said they visit those spaces. Access to quality public transit and amenities such as shopping and restaurants was also noted as a benefit of living in Portland.

— Gordon R. Friedman

GFriedman@Oregonian.com