The results are in! Let’s dive into the data to find out what Gilbert residents had to say.
Background
The National Citizen Survey gathers opinions about resident satisfaction, community livability and government services which helps guide decision-making for our future. The results are also benchmarked from surveys conducted across 600 communities in the nation.
This year, more than 2,500 Gilbert residents took the survey, an increase of 109% from last year. Here’s what they said:
Sense of Community
8 in 10 say Gilbert has a good or excellent sense of community, which eclipses levels seen in other cities across the nation (ranked #18).
Recommend Gilbert to Someone Else
97% said they’d recommend Gilbert to someone else who might ask, which was higher than the national benchmark (ranked #19).
Quality of Life
97% residents rated the quality of life in Gilbert as excellent or good, which exceeds national averages (ranked #10).
Place to Live
Gilbert ranks 5th out of 395 municipalities, with 98% of survey takers rating it as an excellent or good place to live.
Rankings
Gilbert ranked #1 nationwide in overall quality of new development and availability of affordable quality food.
The peer benchmark is compared to 17 communities including Chandler, Mesa, Scottsdale, and Tempe. The results being noted as “higher” or “lower” than the benchmark means that the average rating given by the residents is statistically similar to or different (greater or lesser) than the benchmark.
Value of Services for Taxes Paid
In addition to the good eats, Gilbert residents trust their taxes are spent wisely. 79% of residents gave an excellent or good rating for the value of services for taxes paid, an 8 percent increase from 2017, ranking Gilbert 6th nationally and 1st compared to similar communities.
Top Reasons for Living in Gilbert
Residents also listed their top three reasons for living in Gilbert by indicating how much of an influence, it at all, the following had on their choice to live in Gilbert.
Areas for Improvement
Gilbert still has a few areas for improvement in public transportation, traffic flow, and affordable quality housing.
Top Priorities
Safety and the economy were listed as the top priorities for Gilbert as we plan for our future.
As we look forward to the future, the information provided in the National Citizen Survey helps us as we explore how to create the “City of the Future”. We sincerely thank all who participated in the survey!
Interested in learning more about the National Citizen Survey results? Watch the video recap, listen to the Government Gone Digital episode, review the presentation from the Gilbert Town Council Meeting, or read the full survey results and make your own connections!
Growth and Development
I don’t have social meal platforms and suspect I am not alone on this. It is highly unlikely that I will ever see surveys, if this is the primary way of communication.
Hi, Joanna! Although our primary methods of communication are digital, they aren’t limited to just social media. The survey was sent by NCS via standard postal mail to Gilbert residents and it was also shared on our website and all digital channels. You can see the letter that got sent out and a copy of the survey in the survey results on this page. Additionally, according to the US Census Bureau, 97% of Gilbert residents have a computer or device with internet access so digital communications are an important part of our outreach efforts. For this survey, less than 400 people filled out the mail-in survey while over 2,200 people filled out the online survey. If you’d like to be notified for future surveys and communications, you can sign up here: https://www.gilbertaz.gov/departments/digital-government/contact/enotification
Where would I have found the survey?
Hi, Gerald! The physical survey was mailed to Gilbert residents and we also posted the online survey on the gilbertaz.gov website and our social media channels. Following our social media channels is always the best way to get the latest Gilbert news: https://gilbertaz.gov/connect
Great information. As a resident of Gilbert I’m excited for the positive information.