Walnut Creekers Rate City in Survey

Maybe you know what the neighbors are saying about how Walnut Creek rates.

But to find out what the neighbors all over the city say and have it statistically sorted … well, then, you're going to have to check the city's website.

For the citizen survey done in January, those who rated the overall quality of life in Walnut Creek excellent or good came in at 96 percent, an uptick of 1 percent since the last time the survey was done, 2007.

There were a host of transportation stats. What follows are the combination of excellent and good for various modes:

• ease of car travel in Walnut Creek, 46 percent;
• ease of BART travel, 82 percent;
• ease of bicycle travel, 76 percent;
• ease of walking, 84 percent;
• traffic flow on major streets, 32 percent.

Respondents rated safety in their neighborhood during the day at 97 percent; by night at 84 percent.

City Manager Ken Nordhoff, presenting some highlights of the survey to the City Council March 27, noted library usage of 73 percent, up from 60 in a similar survey five years ago (before the construction of the new downtown library).

Percent of respondents who had contact with city employees went down from 42 to 32 percent in five years. This is partly due to the city automating registration for arts and rec programs, Nordhoff said.

The city manager said the city's numbers for civic engagement were below benchmark numbers for similar communities in size and demographics. Twenty percent of respondents had attended a meeting of local elected officials or other local public meeting. Thirty-seven percent had watched such a meeting on cable TV, the Internet or other media. Forty-two percent had volunteered time to some group or activity in Walnut Creek.

The city received 717 completed surveys, creating an overall response rate of 37 percent. The survey was a collaboration between National Research Center and the International City/County Management Association.