Survey: Alexandria Residents Happy With Where They Live

ALEXANDRIA, VA -- More residents view the City of Alexandria favorably but remain concerned about areas like affordability, the city's 2017 resident survey found. The annual survey asked residents about a number of factors in Alexandria and compared results with national benchmarks.

Overall, 95 percent rated Alexandria as an excellent or good place to live, up 4 percent from last year. The same number said they would recommend living in Alexandria to others, while eight in 10 said they would remain in the city in the next five years.

When residents looked at more specific factors, the results were mixed. Results for most factors were on par with national benchmarks, but economic development, walkability, cultural activities, public transit services and animal control were rated above the benchmarks.

However, residents viewed a few areas poorly. Less than a quarter of residents are satisfied with the city's cost of living and housing affordability. Nearly half said the city should tackle the cost of housing in the next two years. Other results that fall below national benchmarks are public parking (34 percent satisfied) and K-12 education (54 percent).

The city has improved on safety, as 96 percent feeling safe in their neighborhoods is a 3 percent increase from last year. Yet the percentage of residents rating police, fire and ambulance/EMS responders dropped by a few percentage points each.

One factor in result changes relates to the survey's larger sample size compared to last year. 3,000 randomly-selected Alexandria residents were invited to take the survey, and nearly 700 completed the survey in Dec. 2016. Only 357 participated in the previous year's survey.

The city plans to use the survey results to guide the budget process, track progress on the city’s strategic plan, and provide data for performance reports.

“The City uses this survey as an accountability tool to see where we are doing well and where improvements need to be made," said City Manager Mark Jinks.

View the full 2017 survey results here.

Image via M. Enriquez for Visit Alexandria