Palm Beach Gardens Survey, Residents Pleased

Palm Beach Post

August 13, 2023

Survey: Gardens Residents Pleased

Many cite low crime, beauty and amenities.

PALM BEACH GARDENS  City residents are happy to live in a place where they would “definitely recommend” others live as well, according to the results of a survey completed this year.

Palm Beach Gardens hired the ETC Institute to conduct the survey, which polled 3,000 random residents across a range of income levels, ages and neighborhoods to see how satisfied they are with the city, its services and its plans for the future.

The results were presented to the city council on Aug. 3 in a workshop before the council’s regular monthly meeting.

“According to the survey, low crime; shopping, restaurants and community amenities; and physical beauty were the top three reasons people decided to live in Palm Beach Gardens,” said John Boehm, assistant to the city manager.

The survey also found that those were the top three reasons people remained in the city, he said.

Simpler survey took less time

Of the 3,000 surveys sent out, 512 households responded, just over the goal of 500 responses that the ETC Institute set. The surveys were sent in April via email, mail and text message. Responses were due back in May.

The city took a different approach to this year’s survey, which is something it does every three years, Boehm said.

In addition to bringing on a new company to conduct the survey, the city staff worked to pare down the number of questions and hone in on what is most important and helpful in terms of feedback the city can act on, he said.

This year’s survey had 24 questions and took about 10 minutes to complete, Boehm said. Past surveys have had about 50 questions and taken much longer, while relying heavily on phone calls instead of online or mail responses.

About 95% of those who responded said they are full-time residents, and 96% of respondents said they would “definitely recommend” living in the city, the survey found.

Among the 4% who said they would not recommend living in Palm Beach Gardens, most cited a need for “growth and development issues” to be addressed, while about half said taxes need to be lowered.

When it comes to city services, a cumulative 98% said they were “very happy with the quality,” Boehm said.

“It was interesting that the survey found that the majority of residents want the city to provide more services and amenities than what is currently provided,” he said.

When asked which services the city could provide more of, 54% said the city could add more pedestrian- and bicycle- friendly streets, greenways and paths, and 50% said they would like to see more large community events.

An additional 31% asked for more cultural events, and another 30% said they would like to see the addition of a public amphitheater. For that question, people could choose more than one option.

Fire Rescue had strongest support among city agencies

Residents expressed satisfaction with city departments, with Fire Rescue seeing the highest level of feedback on the survey.

The survey asked about respondents’ use of parks and recreation facilities, and which programs, services or amenities they had used in the past six months. The top three facilities or programs were Sandhill Crane Golf Course, tennis and pickleball programs and facilities as well as youth recreation programs, the survey found.

“Residents were overwhelmingly pleased with the level of service provided by the programs and services (included in the survey),” Boehm said, adding, “It’s pretty amazing to see such positive response across the board when considering we asked residents for feedback on such a wide range of services that are offered from our recreation department.”

When it comes to communication, most respondents said they prefer to receive information from the city’s magazine, “Signature City.” That was followed by email or newsletters, mail, the city website and social media.

Residents also cited a need for pedestrian and bicycle safety improvements in the city, said Kelly Neuenschwander, administrative services manager.