Top concerns of Redmond residents include homelessness, cost of living, growth

The city of Redmond released annual community survey results for 2021, which will inform the upcoming 2023-2024 budget process as well as performance measures in the current strategic plan. EMC Research, which is a data analytics firm, conducted the study as an independent third-party.

In total, 400 Redmond residents were interviewed through live phone calls, emails, and text-to-web surveys. The survey was conducted from Dec. 9 to Dec. 15, 2021.

According to the data, prominent concerns of Redmond residents include homelessness and affordable housing, cost of living, and growth. Out of respondents, 21% rated affordable housing, cost of living, and taxes as a top of the mind concern, which is a net increase of 8% from 2019 to 2021.

Homelessness was seen as a top concern to 11% of respondents, which resulted in a net increase of 7% from 2019 to 2021. Growth, overdevelopment, and overpopulation was seen as a concern of 26% of respondents, which was a net decrease of 3% from 2019 to 2021. Crime received a rate of 6% which is a 4% net increase from 2019 to 2021.

Employment opportunities among Redmond residents saw a net decrease of 6% from 2019 to 2021. In the survey, the topic of safety was also taken into account.

Speaking generally, 90% of respondents felt safe, with 41% feeling very safe and 48% feeling somewhat safe. Ten percent of respondents felt generally unsafe in the city, with 6% feeling somewhat unsafe and 4% feeling very unsafe. One percent of respondents did not know how safe they felt at the time of the survey.

Regarding safety while walking alone in one’s neighborhood, 89% of respondents felt safe, with 49% feeling very safe and 40% feeling somewhat safe. Nine percent of respondents felt unsafe while walking alone in their neighborhood, with 7% feeling somewhat unsafe and 2% feeling very unsafe. Two percent of respondents did not know how safe they felt while walking alone in their neighborhoods.

The survey also sought feedback about the believed impact of the Link light rail stations. Sixty-eight percent of respondents felt as if the Link light rail would have a positive impact, with 27% believing there to be a major positive impact and 41% believing there to be a somewhat positive impact.

Top benefits of the Link light rail included quick and easy access (25%), a decrease in traffic congestion (23%), and greater commute options (16%).

Twenty-one percent of respondents felt as though the Link light rail will have a negative impact, with 8% believing there to be a major negative impact and 13% believing there to be a somewhat negative impact. Eleven percent of respondents were unsure or believed there to be no impact.

The greatest concerns of the Link light rail station included crime and public safety issues (15%), an increase in traffic congestion (11%), overdevelopment and population (9%), and not enough parking (9%).

From 2019 to 2021, the city of Redmond received a slight decrease in negative ratings for jobs. In 2021, 8% of survey respondents felt that Redmond jobs were excellent, while 50% felt that Redmond jobs were good. Eleven percent were unsure of the job quality in Redmond. Respondents who felt that jobs were only fair consisted of 24%, while 7% felt that Redmond jobs were poor.

In 2019, 9% of survey respondents felt that Redmond jobs were excellent, while 53% felt that Redmond jobs were good. Eleven percent of respondents were unsure of the job quality in 2019. Those who felt that jobs were only fair made up 23% of responses, and 5% of respondents felt that jobs were poor.

Quality of life in Redmond was taken into consideration, however the survey neglected to go into detail about what factors contribute to a good quality of life in the city. For 2021, 78% of respondents felt that Redmond quality of life was positive, while 31% felt it to be excellent. Satisfactory quality of life made up 14%, and 8% of respondents felt that quality of life in Redmond was poor.

To view the EMC survey visit https://www.redmond.gov/DocumentCenter/View/21829/2021-Community-Survey-Results-PDF