Strafford News

City of Dover issued the following announcement on November 1.

The results from the 2021 National Community Survey, conducted by the City of Dover this summer, are in. This is the eighth year that Dover has conducted the survey, which provides a snapshot of the community, helps the City of Dover measure service performance and quality, and assesses community needs.

Overall, Dover once again received high ratings for its quality of life. A significant majority of residents (89%) indicated that Dover is an “excellent” or “good” place to live and a near equivalent percentage of residents (88%) would recommend living in Dover to someone who asks. In general, in nearly 100 ratings across the various facets that comprise a livable community – including the economy, inclusivity and engagement, education, arts and culture, safety and more – Dover ranked equal to or above those reported in benchmark measures comparing other jurisdictions from across the United States. Resident participation in volunteer activities, garbage collection, yard waste pick-up, and cost of living were the items having a rating lower than that reported by residents in other communities surveyed across the nation.

In responding to the National Community Survey, Dover residents indicated that the economy, natural environment, safety and opportunities for education, culture and the arts are the higher-priority focus areas for the community. The majority of residents noted good to excellent ratings for the City’s overall economic health, health care offerings, education and enrichment opportunities and business services. Residents reported that they feel safe throughout our community and reported an exceedingly high regard for the City of Dover’s public safety services including police, fire, and ambulance/EMS services, and their related crime and fire prevention activities. In addition to these ratings for public safety related services, the overall quality of other community services including public schools, library, recreation programs and facilities, health, storm drainage, public transit and drinking water also received positive ratings by Dover residents.

While the National Community Survey results affirm the City of Dover’s commitment and success in providing high levels of municipal services supporting an excellent quality of life throughout our community, it has also identified opportunities for further improvements. Resident’s opinions clearly reflect the need to maintain an emphasis on our environment, education, culture and the arts and our continued high levels of public safety while remaining mindful of the overall cost of living. Most importantly, the survey results demonstrate that effective communication and ongoing citizen engagement are essential for ensuring the public’s critical involvement and resulting trust in sound local government decision making. From these survey results and other ongoing citizen engagement efforts, program and budget recommendations will be developed and presented over the course of the next few months to sustain and improve upon the City of Dover’s existing services. 

"The results of the National Community Survey are intended to assist the City Council, various City boards and commissions, the City administration and the many civic oriented organizations throughout Dover in understanding and responding appropriately to the needs of our community in the upcoming years," said City Manager J. Michael Joyal, Jr.

A portable document format (.pdf) version of the results can be viewed here: 2021 National Community Survey Results. An electronic, interactive version of the results can be viewed here: https://tabsoft.co/3nzvaPA.

The National Citizen Survey (NCS) was among the first scientific surveys developed to gather resident opinions on various community issues and has been used in more than 350 jurisdictions across 46 states. The NCS is a high-quality, cost-effective scientific survey of resident opinion and an important benchmarking tool that compares communities. Communities using The NCS have reported the survey tool has helped improve performance, strengthen communications with community stakeholders, and identify clear priorities for use in goal and budget setting.

Digital engagement platform Polco merged with survey research firm National Research Center, Inc., in 2019. 

Original source can be found here.