Community survey - 2016

Citizen survey

The 2016 citizen survey reveals the high quality of life in Maple Grove.

The City of Maple Grove contracted with National Research Center, Inc. (NRC) to conduct a community-wide citizen survey. The Maple Grove citizen survey serves as a consumer report card for Maple Grove by providing residents the opportunity to rate the quality of life in the city, as well as the community's amenities, service delivery, and their satisfaction with the local government. Residents also provide feedback on what is working well and what is not, and communicate their priorities for community planning and resource allocation.

This is the fourth iteration of the Maple Grove citizen survey since the baseline study conducted in 2001, 2008, and 2013.

Random mail survey

Surveys were mailed to 1,200 randomly chosen resident households in August 2016. A total of 449 surveys were completed, yielding a response rate of 38%. Because Maple Grove has administered a resident survey before, some comparisons could be made between 2016 responses and those from 2013, 2008, and 2001. Maple Grove also elected to have its results compared to those of other jurisdictions around the nation, comparisons made possible through a national benchmark database created and maintained by National Research Center, Inc. (NRC). Key findings of the 2016 random mail survey were:

• Maple Grove residents continue to enjoy an exceptionally high quality of life.
• Residents appreciate Maple Grove's community characteristics and improvements have been noted.
• Maple Grove continues to rank highly with regard to safety.
• Services and amenities provided by Maple Grove show a marked increase in ratings.
• Residents are increasingly happy with their local government's performance and overall city planning.
• Traffic and transportation may be an area of improvement.
• Economic health and a focus on jobs and attracting primary employers are priorities for residents.

Opt-in web survey

While data from the mailed survey was being collected, the city made available a web-based survey to all its residents through a link posted on the city's website. The city used various avenues to communicate with residents about the survey and encourage participation. Visitors to the site were able to complete the survey from late August through early October 2016, and 547 surveys were received. Due to notable differences between the opt-in web survey results and the mailed scientific survey results, the results were kept separate in two different reports.