Chattanoogans gave high marks to their city, but have concerns about road conditions, housing affordability, crime and traffic, according to the 11th annual Community Survey by the city auditor's office.
City Auditor Stan Sewell said, "We asked Chattanoogans about their views on a variety of city services, and over 5,000 residents responded from May to September. In addition to reporting on citywide data, we report survey data specific to each of Chattanooga’s nine City Council districts.
"Chattanoogans continue to give high ratings to their city and neighborhoods on key quality of life indicators in 2022. Chattanoogans believe the city is a good place to live, work, raise a family and retire.
"A review of the data reveals the highest areas of concern relate to street conditions, housing affordability, public safety and traffic related issues.
"The 2022 survey, like previous surveys, often showed significant differences in opinions based on the Council district surveyed.
"We mailed the survey to 10,000 randomly-selected households. Seventeen percent of households receiving the survey responded. We mailed an additional 60,770 postcards with a link allowing residents to complete the survey online. As a result, an additional 3,376 surveys were completed."
Findings include:
• Although negative ratings on the smoothness of streets remain high at 59 percent, this represents a substantial decrease of 5 percentage points in negative perceptions when compared to prior year.
• Resident’s opinions on housing affordability continues to be low. Forty percent rated housing affordability as very good or good, a 12 percentage point decrease from 2021 and a 27 percentage point decrease from 2012.
• Sixty-two percent of residents were positive about the physical condition of housing, a 4 percentage point decrease from 2021 and the lowest rating since 2012.
• Sixty-three percent of residents opined Chattanooga is a very good or good place to raise children, a decrease of 3 percentage points from 2021 and 7 percentage points from 2020.
. Residents’ opinions of the public library have improved with 50 percent rating the libraries as very good or good, a 5 percentage point increase over 2021 (46%).
Mr. Sewell also said, "We included a question regarding homelessness for 2022 and 2021. Citizens were given the opportunity to provide an opinion on the city’s handling of the homeless problem in Chattanooga. Fifty-four percent of respondents rated the City’s handling of homelessness as bad or very bad, a 6% percentage point increase of negative perceptions from 2021 (48%). Only 8 percent rated the City’s handling of homelessness as good or very good."
Other findings:
Overall satisfaction with police and fire remain positive in 2022. 2 While most residents feel safe in their neighborhoods and parks during the day, residents report feeling less safe downtown, particularly at night.
A majority of residents rate the quality of police and fire services positively. Residents indicating an emergency interaction with police gave more positive ratings than others. Sixty-seven percent of residents with an emergency interaction rated police services and conduct as good or very good. Sixty-six percent of residents with emergency interaction rated speed of police response as good or very good.
We asked citizens to specifically rate Fire department services this year. Overall, 65 percent of respondents’ perceived the quality of fire services as good or very good. Sixty percent rated the conduct of personnel as good or very good and 59 percent rated the speed of response as good or very good. Citywide, residents do not feel safe in their nearest park or downtown at night. In 2022, 51 percent of residents surveyed indicate they feel unsafe or very unsafe walking alone at night downtown. Residents feel safest in their neighborhood during the day. Feelings of safety during the day in the downtown area decreased 3 percentage points from 2021 with 53 percent of respondents rating safety as good or very good.
Feelings of safety at night in neighborhoods vary substantially among council districts. The highest positive ratings of perceived night safety are in City Council Districts 3 and 4, at 70 percent. City Council District 9 reports the lowest positive rating at 32 percent.
Resident satisfaction with Public Works services is positive overall in 2022. The vast majority of residents rate satisfaction with Public Works/Sanitation Services as very satisfied or somewhat satisfied. Ratings in the basic Public Works service areas of garbage, yard waste and curbside recycling have been highly rated in the past. Residents continue to be less enthusiastic about transportation related issues. Ratings on smoothness of streets have been poor since we began conducting the survey in 2012. Overall perceptions of traffic flow during offpeak hours remain positive while residents are less positive about traffic flow during peak hours. We noted perceptions of safety for pedestrians and bicyclists continue to trend downward with only 29 percent and 23 percent of respondents giving positive ratings, respectively.
ANALYSIS Overall satisfaction with Public Works services is positive. However, satisfaction with water quality, storm drainage and sewer services do not rate as well as the traditional sanitation services. Eighty-nine percent of residents who responded with an opinion are very satisfied or somewhat satisfied with garbage pick-up, Seventy-four percent are very satisfied or somewhat satisfied with yard waste pick-up. Curbside recycling continues to show a decrease in satisfaction. Seventy-four percent are very satisfied or somewhat satisfied, a 4 percentage point decrease from 2021.
Overall positive ratings on peak hour traffic flow have trended downward since the inception of the community survey in 2012. In 2022, only 30 percent of residents rated traffic flow during peak hours as very good or good. As illustrated in the following exhibit, District 4 has the lowest (21%) positive perception of peak hour traffic flow while District 2 indicates the highest positive perception at 38 percent. In 2022, the majority of respondents (63%) continue to rate traffic flows during non-peak hours as very good or good.
In 2022, street conditions showed a slight improvement with 21 percent rating smoothness of streets very good or good. This is a 2 percentage point increase from 2021. Perceptions of speeding vehicles were at the lowest positive rating since the inception of the survey in 2012 (27%), with only 18 percent of residents providing a good or very good rating
In 2022, residents rate City parks and recreation programs positively. Thirtynine percent visited a city park at least monthly. For those visiting, the majority rated the cleanliness (72%) and beauty (73%) of city parks as good or very good.4 The majority of residents also rated city parks easy to find (85%).
ANALYSIS Sixty-three percent of residents report visiting a City greenway or trail in the past 12 months. Seventy-seven percent visit a City park at least a few times per year, a 4 percentage point increase from 2021. Twenty-one percent of residents report visiting a City park on a daily or weekly basis. Utilization of parks varies significantly among the nine council districts. The highest rate of regular park visits is 40 percent by residents in District 7; the lowest is 12 percent by residents in District 5.
Residents who registered an opinion rate the quality of playgrounds, park facilities, community special events, and sports fields and facilities favorably. Residents had less favorable opinions of sports leagues and programs, pools and community centers. The following chart provides a graphical representation of these perceptions.
Overall satisfaction with economic and community development remained positive in 2022. Residents rate their city and neighborhood highly on livability. Business owners continue to indicate Chattanooga is a good place to do business. Housing affordability, on-street parking, sidewalk availability and closeness to public transit continues to concern residents.
Citywide, 90 percent of residents feel positively about their city as a place to live. With regard to ratings related to neighborhood livability, residents remain positive about the physical condition of housing, the proximity of parks and access to shopping and services. Residents are not as positive about their ability to walk to public transit (36%), availability of sidewalks (35%) and on-street parking (32%). Residents’ feelings about aspects of neighborhood livability vary by council district.
Sixty-two percent of residents feel positively about the physical condition of housing in their neighborhoods, a 4 percentage point decrease from 2021. Ratings of housing condition vary widely by council district, with the highest positive ratings in District 4 (83%) and the lowest positive ratings in District 8 (38%). In 2022, 40 percent of resident’s rate housing affordability in their neighborhood positively, a 12 percentage point decrease from 2021 (52%) as well as 2020 (64%) and the lowest rating since we started conducting these surveys. The most positive rating on affordability is in District 6 with 57 percent. The lowest rating on housing affordability is in District 7 with 28 percent reporting positively.
In 2022, 35 percent of residents reported new commercial developments in their neighborhoods. Sixty-one percent feel positively about the attractiveness of the development. Forty-eight percent of residents indicate the additions are an improvement to their neighborhood as a place to live. Forty-seven percent of residents reported new residential developments in their neighborhood. Sixty-three percent rate the attractiveness of the development favorably and 44 percent feel the development is an improvement to their neighborhood. Seventy-two percent of residents were neither involved in a community project nor attended a public meeting in the last 12 months. This represents a 3 percentage point decrease in citizen involvement when compared to 2021. Thirty-nine percent rate the City’s efforts at welcoming citizen involvement as positive.