Survey results indicate high resident satisfaction overall

In 2014, the city of Mountain Brook worked with the ETC Institute to distribute a resident satisfaction survey. A similar survey was again conducted in January 2017 and gathered more than 150 additional responses than the previous survey, city manager Sam Gaston said. 

“We were thrilled,” Gaston said. The number of responses, 962, was more than a 50 percent return rate and represented responses distributed throughout the city. 

The goal of the survey was to assess satisfaction, measure trends, determine the city’s priorities and compare the responses to other cities, said senior project manager Jason Morado with the ETC Institute. 

In a presentation to the City Council on April 10, Morado said the results were similar to the survey conducted in 2014.

“Mountain Brook is far above the benchmarking averages,” he said. 

From the survey, Morado said there were four major findings: Residents have a positive perception of the city; satisfaction ratings are similar to 2014 and remain among the highest in the nation; satisfaction with city services is significantly higher in Mountain Brook than in other communities, and there are priorities for investment in traffic flow and congestion management as well as maintenance of city stress and facilities.

“This was the No. 1 issue three years ago, and we did apply for what we call an APPLE grant,” Gaston said.

The APPLE grant, which helps with traffic improvement projects, allowed Mountain Brook to make some minor improvements to different intersections, Gaston said. Since traffic and congestion is still a problem, he said they are looking to apply for another APPLE grant later this summer to make traffic flow and traffic congestion less of a problem. 

But, he said there’s always going to be traffic, due in part that there can be much through-traffic.

“There’s always going to be traffic in Mountain Brook just because of the nature of us being … surrounded by other cities,” Gaston said.

An additional area where satisfaction had dropped was with brush and bulky removal services, Morado said.

Gaston said he has noticed an increase of complaints, and they are going to speak with waste management to look for ways to improve that service.

Even with the few decreases in satisfaction the survey found, Mountain Brook residents still ranked their quality of life in their community first in the nation for many aspects of the city, including:

► Appearance and image of the city.

► Overall quality of services provided by the city.

► Overall value received for city tax dollars and fees.

► Local fire and police protection services.

► Animal control services.

► Enforcement of maintenance of business property.

► Maintenance of city buildings.

► Maintenance of traffic signals.

Of the results, 99 percent of responses also rated Mountain Brook as a good or excellent place to live, and 97 percent rated it a good or excellent place to raise children. Residents also were pleased with the quality of library services, noting the biggest room for investment was in online materials.

After reviewing the results, Morado said the satisfactions with city services is much higher in Mountain Brook than in other communities across the U.S. and rated Mountain Brook above the U.S. average in all 56 areas it was compared. 

“We were very, very pleased and at the same time very humbled,” Gaston said. “It validates that we have outstanding employees here that go the extra mile to provide quality services to our residents.”

To view full results of the survey, go to mtnbrook.org.