Parks and Recreation
Survey Results
Parks Survey a Success!
The city’s parks and recreation board wishes
to thank everyone who participated in its recent parks survey.
Earlier this year, a two page parks and recreation survey was mailed
along with electric utility bills. Those of you who answered
the seven question survey greatly assisted the city in its efforts
to update it’s Parks and Recreation Master Plan. Citizen
input is critical to a successful planning process for a variety of
reasons: 1) rather than making top-down decisions, the city believes
in listening to its residents, 2) voicing your comments/concerns
allows us to build a recreational system that is tailored to
Niles’ specific needs, 3) the most popular needs can be
prioritized for action by the city, 4) grant funding is heavily
influenced by the amount of citizen involvement, and 5) planning is
an democratic process that depends on you.
Fortunately, a great many of you responded to
our call by completing the survey. To be precise, 626 surveys
were received, which represents 12% of all the households in the
city. This is a fantastic response rate for a parks survey,
which is a tribute to our resident’s willingness to get involved
in local government. For those of you who missed the survey or
would still like an opportunity to voice your opinion, please be
advised that the parks board is not yet finished. There will
be opportunities to review the draft plan and make comments before
the plan is adopted by the city council.
Please stay tuned to the City of
Niles
web page for more information about the ongoing development of the
Parks and Recreation Master Plan. You can also call or email
Juan Ganum at City Hall for more information. Remember, it’s
never too late to get involved!
Curious about the survey results? Well
here is the summary of the information we received. Click
Below for the complete survey results with charts.
· Riverfront
Park
and the Riverfront Park Trail are the most used facilities in
Niles
by a substantial margin.
· Surprisingly, Niles School
Facilities (no specific facility) received the fourth highest vote
total for recreational usage.
· Riverfront
Park
is the city’s most popular park.
· Respondents were generally satisfied
with the amount of park land, variety of park facilities, access to
parks and park maintenance.
· Many respondents were unaware
of the city’s Summer Parks Program for children ages 5 to 10.
· Trails were cited as the
facility that most respondents wish to see added.
· By a very wide margin, most
respondents agreed that parks and recreation facilities are worthy
of increased taxpayer support.
· By a very wide margin, most
respondents agree that
Niles
should expand its trail system.
· 85% of respondents indicated
that the
Niles
park system is meeting their family’s local recreational needs.
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