Riverside Celebrates High Quality of Life as Residents Express Commitment and Pride in Their City
Published: 5/10/2024
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
May 10, 2024
Contact:
Phil Pitchford
Public Information Officer
951-826-5975
Riverside Celebrates High Quality of Life as Residents Express Commitment and Pride in Their City
RIVERSIDE, Calif. – Residents of Riverside are overwhelmingly pleased with their quality of life, recommend their city as a wonderful place to live, and have strong intentions to remain in the community, according to a recent survey commissioned by the City of Riverside.
These positive sentiments match the city’s proactive approach to addressing concerns about homelessness and road conditions, demonstrating a commitment to further enhancing resident satisfaction.
“Data is at the heart of every successful venture, especially when it comes to solving challenges in a large organization,” Mayor Patricia Lock Dawson said. “These findings put hard numbers behind our thoughts and feelings – Riversiders love their city but want improvement in areas where we have begun to devote more resources.”
The survey highlights that a significant 68 percent of respondents positively rate the overall quality of life in Riverside, compared to only a seven percent negative rating. Additionally, 69 percent would recommend the city as a great place to live, and 72 percent see themselves living here for at least the next five years. This strong sense of community is further reflected in high approval ratings for vital services such as fire services with a 72 percent approval rating, water services with a 65 percent approval rating, and library programs with a 65 percent approval rating.
While residents expressed some concerns about traffic and road conditions, these issues are already being targeted in comprehensive plans for improvement.
“These findings reflect what I and other elected officials hear every day from our residents, so it’s encouraging to know we are tracking the right issues,” Mayor Pro Tem Steve Hemenway said. “This survey will provide an important set of benchmarks to measure our progress into the future.”
The survey also revealed that water services are most crucial, followed by traffic flow and street paving. When asked about priority areas for additional resources, 35 percent of residents highlighted homelessness, and 17.5 percent pointed to road maintenance as priorities, key areas where the city is investing and seeing improvements.
The city has allocated more than $11 million in homeless program this year and has seen a 12% decrease in chronic homelessness and a 27% decrease in youth homelessness.
The La Entrada Apartments on Seventh Street opened this month, making available 65 units of affordable housing. The City Council devoted $900,000 in federal funds to help senior citizens in danger of becoming homeless to pay their rent. The City successfully sought out a $4.375 million state grant to create 25 units of housing for young people who are homeless or in danger of becoming homeless. The Department of Housing and Human Services was created to bring together all the City’s existing resources with a renewed focus. City employees arrange services for jail inmates scheduled for release and at risk of becoming homeless through Project Connect, believed to be the county’s first city-led jail in-reach program.
The city has invested a record $34 million in road repaving this year and expects to repave 51 miles of city streets by December 2024. Most recently, the City Council on Tuesday awarded a construction contract for $1.4 million in street improvements, including deteriorating pavement, for 10 streets in wards 2 and 5.
Additional improvements will come via the planned Third Street grade separation and a citywide traffic signal controller replacement.
Residents are encouraged to review ongoing & upcoming projects at www.riversideca.gov/pavingmap.
This extensive survey was conducted by Zencity from March 20 to April 24, reaching 816 people through advanced polling technology. It aimed to evaluate city services both in terms of importance and satisfaction, offering the city valuable benchmarks to gauge future progress.
With this feedback, Riverside is well-positioned to continue thriving as a community that not only meets but exceeds the expectations of its residents.
The survey results can be found at: https://riversideca.gov/citymanager/quality-life-survey-results
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