A survey of Gaithersburg residents revealed 86% view the city as a great place to live, praising parks, customer service, and public safety. Areas identified for improvement include traffic flow, street maintenance, and economic development.
Per the City of Gaithersburg: “In a recent random survey of City residents, 86% of respondents described Gaithersburg as an “excellent” or “good” place to live, with high marks also given for quality of the City’s parks and recreational programs and facilities, quality of recycling, yard waste and bulk pickup collection, quality of customer service by City employees, quality of City buildings and facilities, and quality of police services.
“We are encouraged and proud to get such positive feedback on our City services and programs, customer service and public safety,” said Mayor Jud Ashman. “The survey results reinforce that our residents recognize and appreciate our efforts to ensure that Gaithersburg remains a welcoming community and a great place to live.”
“This survey data is very useful to us as we continue our strategic planning process and budget planning,” said City Manager Tanisha Briley. “Overall, the survey points to strong performance in core City services, while also indicating that traffic flow, street maintenance, and effectiveness of economic development might be areas that should receive the most emphasis over the next few years.”
The survey, available in both English and Spanish, was sent by the ETC Institute to 3,000 randomly selected households in August of 2024. Four hundred and one surveys (13%) were returned. Demographics of survey respondents reflected the City’s population.
The City rated above the U.S. average in 45 of 51 areas. Satisfaction with the overall quality of City services rated 33% above the U.S. average, and satisfaction with customer service rated 38% above the U.S. average. The top overall priorities indicated by respondents includes traffic flow/ease of getting around Gaithersburg, maintenance of City streets, public safety, and affordable housing.
The 2024 Community Survey results were presented at the Mayor and City Council Work Session on Monday, October 14. The presentation can be viewed here, and the full survey report is available under Documents.
To view the City of Gaithersburg’s full 2024 community survey results, explore the original news release from the MOCO Show, posted by Patrick Herron on October 16th, 2024.