REPORT TO COUNCIL
SUBJECT
Title
National Citizens Survey Results (Information Only)
Report
BACKGROUND
Sunnyvale participates in the National Citizen Survey (NCS) biennially in odd-numbered years. The NCS is based on a national template of questions in categories such as safety, mobility, natural and built environments, economy, recreation, and community engagement. The standardized assessment tool allows cities to benchmark a community's characteristics, governance, and resident participation against similar communities and understand trends over time.
The NCS is under new leadership. Previously, the National Research Center Inc. (NRC) conducted the NCS survey as an independent company. Polco acquired the NRC in 2019. In 2021, the NCS was refreshed. While much of the survey remains the same, some trend data was impacted due to wording modifications that potentially could have altered the meaning for some respondents.
The NCS was sent to 2,700 randomly selected households in Sunnyvale from April 30 to June 18 of 2021. The survey received an 11% response rate. The sample size was 285 with a margin of error of 6% and a 95% confidence interval. Staff received a final NCS Report in July 2021 (Attachment 1).
DISCUSSION
Sunnyvale generally received positive marks from residents on the 2021 NCS. Overall, the findings suggest that most residents experience a favorable quality of life in Sunnyvale, with 92% of survey respondents rating Sunnyvale as a "good" or "excellent" place to live and 84% rating their overall feeling of safety as "good" or "excellent." Sunnyvale also ranked higher than benchmark cities in attracting people from diverse backgrounds and valuing/respecting residents from diverse backgrounds.
Most of Sunnyvale's ratings were similar to national benchmarks and show that Sunnyvale continues to be a great place to live. The NCS highlights Sunnyvale's strong economic health compared to most communities in the US with favorable rankings in employment o...
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