Thoughts and Observations on the 2022 Raleigh Community Survey Results

Starting in 2016, Raleigh began using scientific polling to gather resident input across a broad range of topics. As a result, those polls generally reflect the demographic characteristics of the City’s current population. It’s called the Raleigh Community Survey and is conducted every 2 years.

Staff presented the results of the 2022 survey to the City Council during its work session on Tuesday, June 13. When comparing results over the years, the responses are remarkably consistent. The 2022 survey also compares survey responses from Raleigh Residents to those of “major” US cities (defined as those with populations over 250,000). The Community Survey is the only survey conducted by the City that uses random sampling to gather feedback from residents. Therefore, it is the most accurate reflection of how Raleigh residents view the City’s performance on the topics surveyed.

In 2022, Raleigh performed better than the benchmarked cities in 31 of 37 surveyed areas. Those cities were:

The Survey also includes trend analysis using the 2016 results as a baseline and comparing the 2022 results to those of 2020. In most categories, the results for 2022 compare favorably to past years. As reflected below, the areas where residents were less satisfied all related to the City’s rapid pace of growth.

Given these results, Council must acknowledge and continue addressing resident concerns about growth and the associated impacts. However, what is also clear after reviewing the Survey in detail is that resident satisfaction remains consistently high since the City began surveying residents in 2016, particularly in comparison to the peer cities. In other words, the vast majority of residents continue to believe that Raleigh is a great place to live, work and raise a family.

There will inevitably be cherry-picking of the Survey results by those who are intent on fomenting dissent and divisiveness across the City. However, any fair-minded analysis of the 2022 Community Survey and emerging trends must conclude that Raleigh residents continue to believe that Raleigh is a great place to call home. Another reasonable inference that can be drawn from the Survey is that the City is not doing a good job telling “its story.” For example, only 40% of residents think the City communicates effectively. Similarly, only 49% of residents were “familiar” with the City’s plans for growth and development, while only 56% of respondents were satisfied with their ability to access needed information from the City.

Given these survey results combined with the City’s recent efforts to address housing affordability (Missing Middle, $80 million housing bond, land banking property for future affordable housing and the ongoing implementation of the Bus Rapid Transit System), one could infer that more residents might be satisfied with where the City is headed if it was better at communicating.  Fortuitously, in May the City hired a new communications director. Hopefully, she will help the City implement better ways to tell Raleigh residents about its successes, as well as its varied efforts to address the impacts of rapid growth. It will be interesting to see how the City’s communication efforts evolve between now and the next Community Survey in 2024.

But don’t take our word for it, please take some time to review the surveys.  RaleighForward’s website also contains the 2016, 2018 and 2020 Community Survey Results.