Survey shows Grapevine residents want parks, safety and streets to be priorities
Since 2006, the city has allocated a portion of sales tax to quality of life projects in Grapevine.
To gather input from residents on how best to use those funds, an online survey of Grapevine residents was undertaken by National Service Research on behalf of the city. More than 1,700 people responded to the quality of life survey than was conducted in February and March.
Parks and trails, police and fire protection and street improvements were top priorities.
The wish list included a dog park, golf course improvements and bike lanes on roadways.
In the past, capital (or non-recurring) quality of life expenditures have been used for Parks & Recreation projects such as Oak Grove Ballfield Complex, Casey’s Clubhouse, Dove Pool renovation, Bellaire Park and other projects such as backlit street signs, outdoor emergency sirens and emergency traffic preemption.
As some of these needs have been met, the city wanted to conduct a citizen survey to ask their thoughts on appropriate use for the capital funds for these types of projects in the future: arts and culture; beautification projects; community outreach center; golf course improvements; information technology; library; park amenities; police and fire; and public works.
The survey also asked citizens about how they prefer to receive city information and their overall rating for all city services in Grapevine.
The online survey was available to all Grapevine households and was posted and available on the city’s website, Facebook, Twitter, weekly e-news, the city’s newsletter (mailed to all residents), at the Outreach Center and Senior Activities Center and by contacting Mona Burk, city marketing/communications manager.
For residents with no computers, online access was available at the city library and the Outreach Center.
The online survey link was active Feb. 2 through March 16. Respondents completing the entire survey totaled 1,722, providing a margin of error of plus or minus 2.4 percent at a 95 percent confidence level.
All questions were optional, so response totals on each question varied.
Highest Ranked “Very Important” Rankings
1. Park Amenities – Trails 68.9 percent
2. Police and Fire – Protective Equipment 58.9
3. Public Works – Street Improvements 58.1
4. Police and Fire – Technology 57.1
5. Public Works – Sidewalk Additions 55.3
6. Police and Fire – Animal Shelter 50.1
7. Arts and Culture – Christmas Decorations 48.9
8. Park Amenities – Dog Park 48.0
9. Park Amenities – Wildlife Viewing Areas 43.6
10. Information Technology – WiFi 42.5
More than 1,300 respondents provided comments on the open ended question at the end of the survey. The most common mainly focused on park issues.
They included: a dog park; trails (connectivity of trails, more nature trails, linear trails, etc.); bike lanes on roadways; nature parks/trails, more green spaces, nature preserves, open spaces; practice fields (lighted fields); more summer programs for kids and seniors; a skate park; a community garden; continued improvements on Lake Grapevine; improve boat ramps/extend ramps during low water levels; improve maintenance of playground equipment; and golf course improvements (pro shop, restaurant, practice range, course drainage/bunkers).
Others requests were for more focus on police protection; need for public transportation; improvements to the animal shelter; need for a higher end grocery store near Main Street; enhancing and enforcing code violations; more street lighting; and street and sidewalk improvements.
The survey was conducted by National Service Research, The company, founded in 1989, is a full-service quantitative and qualitative market research consulting firm and conducts market studies for the public and private sector.
This story was originally published May 13, 2015 at 9:37 AM with the headline "Survey shows Grapevine residents want parks, safety and streets to be priorities."