The majority of McAllen residents have a positive perception of the city when it comes to settling down and raising a family, according to a community survey that was conducted earlier this year.
City staff reviewed the results of the survey with city commissioners during a workshop held Monday, and among the takeaways were that most residents had a good perception of the city and that their satisfaction in city services was higher than the national average.
The city surveyed 602 participants throughout the city from February to March. ETC Institute in Olathe, Kansas conducted the survey with the purpose of gathering information on residents’ level of satisfaction with services and collecting opinions on other topics.
The surveys were mailed to a random sample of households. Residents could fill out the survey and return it by mail or they could complete it online. The goal was to obtain 600 surveys, which was exceeded with a total of 602 completed surveys.
“The precision of the survey is +/-3.9% at the 95% confidence level, which is industry standard,” Cesar N. Rodriguez, the director of strategy management, told city commissioners.
“The key to the survey is that it’s representative of our demographics,” Rodriguez added. “It’s representative of our population in terms of age, race and ethnicity, and gender.”
Among the major findings were that 94% of people were satisfied with McAllen as a place to live, about 90% were satisfied with the city as a place to raise children, and about 87% were satisfied with the overall quality of life.
All of the perception items measured increased in satisfaction since 2019, with six out of ten having an increase of at least 3.9%:
>> Those satisfied with the quality of leadership by the elected officials increased from 60.8% to 67.6%
>> Those satisfied with McAllen as a place to work grew from 78.2% to 84.5%
>> Those satisfied with McAllen as a place to live increased from 89.8% to 94.2%
>> Those satisfied with McAllen as a place to raise children increased from 85.9% to 89.9%
>> Those satisfied with McAllen as a place to retire grew from 77.3% to 81.3%
>> Those satisfied with the overall effectiveness of city management increased from 64.5% to 68.4%
When it came to all items, though, satisfaction ratings increased in 55 out of 89 areas but decreased in 34.
Those that increased in satisfaction included quality of water and sewer; maintenance of city streets, buildings, and facilities; and quality of leadership from elected officials.
The services that saw a decrease in satisfaction included police safety education programs; quality of fire safety education programs; and visibility of police in retail areas.
When asked about specific city services, 88% said they were satisfied by the overall quality of police and fire services, 83.8% said they were satisfied by the quality of the solid waste system, and 81.4% said they were satisfied by the overall quality of the parks and recreation programs and facilities.
The three services with the lowest satisfaction ratings were the overall quality of the stormwater runoff/stormwater management system, which only 59.5% of respondents found satisfactory; the overall enforcement of city codes and ordinances, which 58.5% respondents found satisfactory; and the overall flow of traffic and congestion management, which only about 42% of residents deemed satisfactory.
Rodriguez pointed out that the survey does not take into account the changes to traffic lights in May that are meant to improve flow and decrease congestion.
Asked about what the city should prioritize over the next two years, responding residents ranked the flow of traffic and congestion management in the city; the maintenance of city streets, buildings, and facilities; and the stormwater runoff/stormwater management system as the top three.
While the majority of residents — 59.2% — were either very satisfied or satisfied with the quality of drainage infrastructure, about 80% said they experience standing water or ponding water in their neighborhoods when it rains.
About 13% said it occurs every time it rains; 24% said it happens sometimes if it has been raining frequently; and 41.9% said it happens rarely – only if it is a major storm event.
Feedback from the survey is expected to be used by city leaders to guide decisions toward residents’ needs and to prioritize services that will positively impact the community, according to the survey report.
Rodriguez said city staff are proposing doing a follow up survey next year to address questions not answered in this survey. They also propose conducting the survey via mobile phones instead of through the mail to reach more people.
