Willow Glen Resident

News

Survey says majority believe life in San Jose continues to improve

By Monica Heger

Life is good in San Jose.

Seventy-nine percent of residents reported their quality of life in San Jose was good or excellent, according to a 2005 community survey. Seventy-six percent of residents are satisfied or very satisfied with city services, giving San Jose a leg up on surrounding cities such as San Francisco and Oakland, with only 37 and 30 percent satisfaction ratings, respectively.

The survey was conducted over the phone between Dec. 15 and Dec. 21, 2005, with 1,000 randomly selected residents.

Satisfaction levels have continued to rise over the last year in the areas of traffic, library hours and materials, fire prevention, graffiti removal, protection of open space, and condition of library buildings, community centers and government offices.

At the April 4 city council meeting, David Metz from Fairbank, Maslin, Maullin and Associates, the firm that conducted the study, gave a presentation outlining the results. Council members expressed surprise at some of the numbers.

Metz said the numbers are typically driven by whether or not residents are happy with the neighborhood they live in.

"It's the block they live on, the school their kids go to and their neighbors," Metz said.

Council members also commended city staff for its hard work in maintaining and improving satisfaction levels, while at the same time sustaining cuts.

"It's nice to see real signs of improvement and that the public is acknowledging our efforts," Councilman Ken Yeager said.

Another interesting finding in the report was the difference of opinion between residents in Strong Neighborhoods Initiative neighborhoods and those living elsewhere. While residents in SNI neighborhoods reported a significantly lower level of satisfaction about the physical condition of their neighborhood, they were more likely to note improvements over the last two years.

The issues that residents identified as the most pressing have remained consistent for the past two years: crime, traffic, education, jobs and housing costs. This year two new issues--cost of living and street maintenance--were added to the list.