2000 Lawrence Citizen Survey

Abstract

During the fall of 2000, the Survey Research Center at the University of Kansas asked a random sample of Lawrence, Kansas, residents about their views on the quality of life and their perceptions of city services. This is the fifth Lawrence Citizen Survey: the first was completed in the fall of 1992 and focused on the police; the second was completed in the fall of 1994 and focused on trash and sanitation; the third, completed in the fall of 1996, focused on public transportation and taxes; the fourth, completed in the fall of 1998, focused on residential mobility within Lawrence and, once again, on support for a public transportation system. The current survey covers all city services and examines, in detail, citizen views on the number of unrelated persons living in a single-family residence, growth, tax abatements and traffic. Most of the questions were adapted from the National Citizen Survey, a survey written and tested by the Center for Survey Comparisons in Boulder, Colorado.

The 2000 Lawrence Citizen Survey accurately reflects the public's view of city services, but one must recognize that attitudes about services can differ substantially from other measures of performance. Citizen attitudes are often based on limited experience rather than on careful assessment or routine contact; moreover, groups within the community often have divergent views. However formed and limited, citizen judgments of city services are one way of measuring government performance, and citizen satisfaction is an important dimension of the success of local government.