National Community Survey

In January, Council and the community received the results of a community survey conducted in the summer of 2022. The City worked with a national survey company to conduct a statistically valid survey. Over 800 Bainbridge Island residents participated in the survey.

For those who want to learn more:

Watch the presentation (Council meeting)
Review the slides (PowerPoint file)
Look at the data summary (PDF)

Summary

Of the 123 survey items for which residents provided ratings, 35 received ratings higher than the national benchmark (2 of which were actually “much higher”), 71 received similar ratings, and 17 received lower ratings (4 of which were actually “much lower”).

Much higher:

Water resources
Community support for the arts

Much lower: Availability of affordable quality housing

Availability of affordable quality health care
Availability of preventive health services
Availability of affordable quality mental health care

The City opted to ask four additional custom questions.

About 65% of residents indicated that they would strongly or somewhat support more active regulation of non-host-occupied short-term vacation rentals (such as AirBnB or VRBO).
About 52% of residents indicated that they preferred most future development and population growth should be concentrated in downtown/Winslow and designated neighborhood service centers.
Over 60% of residents indicated support for City-owned affordable housing.
Nearly 70% of residents indicated that they prefer a more reactive approach to code enforcement

Background

In order to be able to assess and respond to the needs of Bainbridge Island residents, the City periodically participates in the National Citizens Survey (NCS). The City first participated in the NCS in 2013, again in 2014, and most recently in 2015. In each instance, 1200 surveys were sent to randomly selected Bainbridge Island addresses. In both 2013 and 2014 over 450 surveys were completed and return to the National Research Center (NRC), providing an overall response rate of 40%.

In 2015, 584 surveys were completed with an overall response rate of 49%. Typically, response rates obtained on citizen surveys range from 25% to 40%. The 2015 response rate results in a margin of error of plus or minus four percentage points.

Resident Opinion

Participating in the National Citizen Survey creates an opportunity for the City to use the NRC database of comparative resident opinion, comprised of resident perspectives gathered in citizen surveys from approximately 500 jurisdictions whose residents evaluated local government services and gave their opinion about the quality of community life.