How well is Raleigh managing growth? Here’s what a new city survey shows.
People like living in Raleigh.
They’re less thrilled with the traffic, construction and how the city is managing its growth.
A new survey shows that 90% of people who responded to a city of Raleigh survey have positive things to say about the quality of life in the City of Oaks.
But just 31% of survey takers gave a positive rating for how well the city is managing growth. It’s the lowest rating the city has gotten for the question, falling from 47% two years earlier.
This is the fourth time the city of Raleigh has asked people for their opinion on the city and its local government offerings in an official survey. The survey, conducted every two years, includes all aspects of the city’s services.
A couple of caveats: These responses were gathered from December 2022 and March 2023. Of the 6,000 households that were sent surveys, 1,045 completed the forms. The survey is considered statistically significant with a 95% level of confidence with a margin of error of plus or minus 3%. The survey was administered by ETC Institute.
Raleigh’s biggest issues include affordable housing
Affordable housing skyrocketed to the top of the list with 75% of survey takers picking it as one of three of the most significant issues the city will face in five years. Pace of growth was second with 66% and 47% selected transportation.
In the city’s first survey in 2016, just 51% of survey takers picked affordable housing as one of the top three issues.
Here is the list of things survey takers said the city should focus on:
- How well the city of Raleigh is managing growth
- Overall traffic flow in Raleigh
- Availability of affordable housing
- Effectiveness of city communication
- Overall quality of new development in Raleigh
- Overall maintenance of city streets
- Overall effort to protect natural resources
- New construction’s compatibility with existing neighborhood building patterns
Two-year changes in NC’s capital city
Out of 98 categories, Raleigh saw a decline in 71 compared to survey answers in 2020.
The biggest drops from 2020 to 2022 included the variety of housing options, new construction’s compatibility, availability of affordable housing, riding GoRaleigh buses to places in Raleigh, how well the city is managing growth, overall quality of new development and the city’s overall effort to protect natural resources and environments.
But, despite the decline, the survey takers still reported positive responses, 50% or higher, on 65 of the 98 categories.
What about other cities?
The ETC Institute analyzed the survey results and compared them to 37 other cities with populations of more than 250,000 residents. The city of Raleigh received higher a rating in 35 of the 37 areas with the highest categories being the quality of parks and recreation programs and services, recommending the city as a place to live and work, and overall image of the city.
The two areas with a lower rating than other cities? Overall condition of major city streets and enforcement of junk and debris cleanup.
Who took the survey?
Survey takers were able to share demographic information, which the city uses to ensure the survey results mirror Raleigh’s actual population.
The age, race and ethnicity demographics of the survey takers were nearly identical to the city’s actual demographics, but the survey fell short in a few other categories.
Fewer renters surveyed: While about 47% of the city rents, only 33% of survey takers who responded said they rented.
Age gap: Survey takers also underrepresented the city’s youngest adult residents, 18-34. Thirty-seven percent of the city’s population falls into that age category while only 18% of the survey responses included people in that age range.
Income and education: People in the lowest income brackets and with less education also had a lower response than the overall city’s actual demographics.
The full report can be found online at raleighnc.gov/government/services/community-survey
