Twice as many people think that traffic congestion is a bigger problem than rising taxes, and a rising number of residents are concerned about less politeness at City Hall. As these perceptions change, the city is becoming older, whiter and richer. These are some of the nuggets of wisdom to be gleaned from a recent survey of public opinion of Alexandria citizens. Conducted by the Center for Research and Public Policy, survey organizers telephoned 1,001 randomly selected Alexandrians from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. between Sept. 12 and Sept. 26. It has an error of margin at plus or minus 3 percent, with a 95 percent confidence level.
The most surprising results of the survey had to do with property tax bills, which have doubled over the past five years. Those who were concerned about taxes gave a mixed message to city leaders: 17 percent said they would like to see lower tax bills even if services might decrease and 15 percent said they wouldn’t mind higher tax bills if they saw a concurrent rise in services. The vast majority of residents — 57 percent — said that they thought taxes should remain at their current level.
“That’s a pretty strong endorsement that we’re on the right track,” said Brian Hannigan, the city’s director of communications. “Most people seem to think that they are getting good value for the level of taxes that they’re paying.”
RESPONDENTS LISTED a number of reasons for their decision to live in Alexandria: location, proximity to work, housing, town character, nice neighborhood and birthplace. The public-opinion results showed that 97 percent of Alexandria residents viewed their overall quality of life was “very good” or “good” with 83 percent reporting that their quality of life was better than two years ago. Jerry Lindsley, president of the Center for Research and Public Policy, said that this was a surpassingly high number for a city.
“I never see numbers this high for a city,” said Lindsley. “You usually find numbers this high in a rural setting.”
When Lindsley presented the results of the survey to city leaders earlier this month, City Manager Jim Hartmann was surprised to learn about dissatisfaction with the level of courtesy at City Hall. The survey showed that positive ratings for courtesy of city government employees declined from 81.6 percent in 2004 to 74.1 percent in 2006.
“That number is way too high,” said Hartmann, referring increasing anger over a perceived lack of courtesy. “Customer service begins with every city employee, and we’ve started several new efforts on improving courtesy.”
A FREE-RESPONSE SECTION of the survey showed that residents listed a broad range of concerns about the city’s future: traffic at 30 percent; taxes at 16 percent; crime at 10 percent; the school system at 9 percent; and the lack of affordable housing at 9 percent. The survey results also included a laundry list of other concerns: poor quality of tap water, lack of handicapped access and a general scarcity of Republicans.
“Republicans have always been for lower taxes, and Democrats think that government can solve their problems,” said Townsend Van Fleet, an Alexandria Republican who has run for public office. “I think that’s why the survey showed that a lot of people in Alexandria don’t mind paying more taxes if they get more services.”
Some of the responses suggested conflicting directions for city leaders. For example, although 9 percent of respondents described the city school system as “poor,” education topped the list of services that “should be cut or reduced.” Amy Carlini, executive director of the division’s Office of Information and Outreach, said that despite conflicting responses the survey results are good news for the school system.
“More people say that they chose to live in Alexandria because of the schools in 2006 than in 2004, and fewer people said that education is a serious problem,” said Amy Carlini, executive director of Information and Outreach for the schools system. “The survey also showed a growing number of people are choosing to send their children to public schools instead of private schools.”
SURVEY RESPONDENTS also listed a number of unmet needs: 8 percent said Alexandria needs more affordable housing, 8 percent said the city needs better traffic control and 5 percent said more recreation centers are needed. Although a decreasing number of people said that they were aware of the DASH bus service, an increasing number of people said that they regularly use it. And they gave low marks to real-estate assessors and code-enforcement personnel.
“That’s logical,” said Lindsley. “These are the kind of agencies that frequently get low ratings.”
The final report from the Center for Research and Public Policy also included a series of statistics that illustrated demographic trends in the city. Fewer people said that they own their home while more people said that they rent. Those in the age group of 18 to 45 have a declining presence in Alexandria while those in the 46 to 65 age group have an increasing presence in the city. The number of those making more than $250,000 doubled while those making less than $150,000 are leaving. At the same time, the city's percentage of Hispanics and blacks continues to dwindle.
“It’s abundantly clear that it’s becoming increasingly more difficult to afford to live in Alexandria, and this should send shock waves through our community,” said Councilman Ludwig Gaines. “Every day we waste is another day that the moving vans come into our community and take away our diversity.”