Chattanoogans are generally happy overall with their city as a good place to raise children, work and live + retire, but a new community survey shows there are areas for improvement, too.

We’re not saying the city should add free pizza to the mix somehow, but...OK, maybe we are. | Gif by Giphy

The city’s Office of Internal Audit released the 2019 Community Survey results this week + we’re breaking down the results for you. The survey includes responses from 2,000 residents from the city’s nine districts. Participants answered 23 questions, some of which had multiple parts.

ProTip: The survey is online and has district-specific info, so check it out for a more granular perspective and to see how your area fared.

First up? General satisfaction with the city. 👇

In each category, this year’s responses were marginally worse than last year. | Office of Internal Audit

Public safety

Overall, satisfaction with police, fire, EMS and 9-1-1 services is positive, according to the survey’s commentary.
Residents reported not feeling safe in their neighborhood parks or downtown at night.
District 2, which includes North Chattanooga, Riverview, Northgate and Stuart Heights, got the highest positive rating with 69% feeling safe.
District 9, which includes East Chattanooga, Eastdale, Glenwood, scored lowest with 30% reporting feeling safe.

This illustration shows the city’s districts and the percentage of respondents who ranked police services as good or very good. | Office of Internal Audit

Public works + transportation

Overall, resident satisfaction with Public Works services — like garbage collection + curbside recycling — is positive, according to the report.
Residents, however, are not enthused about transportation-related issues.
This year’s survey shows the largest single-year decrease in perceptions of street conditions.
Satisfaction with water quality, storm drainage + sewer services don’t rate as well as traditional sanitation services

Parks + recreation

Overall, people are happy with the city’s parks although not many people are participating in local recreation programs.
The number of people who visit parks varies over the city’s nine districts.
District 7, which includes downtown, St. Elmo + East Lake, has the highest rate of regular park visits at 35%.
District 5, which Eastlake, Dalewood + Bonny Oaks, had the lowest visit rate with 11%.

Residents rated the quality of park landscaping, facilities + playgrounds favorably, although not as good as last year.

Economic + community development

Overall, satisfaction with community development remains positive.
There was a decrease in positive opinions about key livability questions compared to last year.
Business owners favorably rank the city as a place to be an entrepreneur; this year saw a 3% increase in satisfaction.
Most respondents are satisfied with commercial and residential developments in their neighborhoods.
Residents rated housing affordability 4% lower than last year.
The use of McKamey Animal Services is up 8% over last year.
Most people have consistently reported over the years that they don’t use CARTA.
Of the respondents who have used CARTA, about 50% report positive ratings.

Poll

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