City Services Satisfaction Survey 2012 City Services Satisfaction Survey | Page 19

Neighborhoods
About seven out of ten Arlington residents rate their neighborhoods moderately high in
terms of quality of life. Compared to last year, overall rating of neighborhoods as a
place to live has declined significantly (68% “excellent” or “good” vs. 79% in 2010) *
(likely a function of methodology change, as noted in the Caution On Year-To-Year
Comparisons).
However, residents’ perceptions of major neighborhood problems generally appear to
be consistent with last year’s. Residential and car burglaries and speeding in
neighborhoods continue to be among the top concerns for residents, with over one-third
reporting each to be at least somewhat of a problem.
Compared to last year, overall sense of safety in neighborhoods and in business areas
appears to have declined* (likely a function of methodology change, as noted in the
Caution On Year-To-Year Comparisons). Despite these statistical drops in 2011,
neighborhoods and business areas in Arlington continue to be rated very safe for
walking alone during the day (for neighborhoods 90% very/somewhat safe vs. 94% in
2010; for business areas 88% vs. 95%). As would be expected based on historical
data, safety ratings at night are much lower for both neighborhoods and business areas
in Arlington (for neighborhoods 62% very/somewhat safe vs. 66% in 2010; for business
areas 45% vs. 56%). It is notable that the extent of drops is largest in the safety rating
of business areas in Arlington at night.
Although the vast majority of residents (81%) report that neither they, nor anyone in
their household, were the victim of any crime in the past 12 months, the incidence of
being a crime victim has significantly increased from 13% in 2010 to 19% in 2011.
Contrarily, participation in any neighborhood associations has declined from 24% in
2010 to 18% in 2011* (likely a function of methodology change, as noted in the Caution
On Year-To-Year Comparisons).
Decision Analyst, Inc.
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