In separate surveys, College Park residents said the city’s greatest priority should be crime prevention and public safety.
The 510 residents who responded to the city’s biennial community survey also named land use, police services, economic development and code enforcement as areas the city should focus on over the next two years.
In another survey about budget priorities, 198 residents also named housing, cycling and pedestrians, parks and recreation, and education support.
“When the [College Park] City Council discusses the next budget, we will have good discussions about how we can respond to residents’ wishes about improving,” College Park Mayor Fazlul Kabir said, noting, “This survey will be extremely helpful in guiding the city council as we set priorities and goals for the next five years.”
The College Park City Council works on each fiscal year’s budget in April and May. In addition, the council this year will adopt a new five-year strategic plan for the city. According to Kabir, the 2025 community survey by Kansas-based marketing and survey firm ETC Institute is a tool the city will use to better understand residents’ priorities, satisfaction with city services and views on the community.
Ryna Quiñones, the city’s communications and events manager, agreed.
“The community survey is a great way to get feedback and hear thoughts,” Quiñones said. “The city uses the survey data to help guide our strategic plans, hear requests for additional services or amenities, and determine where improvements can be made.”
Kabir said crime prevention, which ranked in the community survey as the top issue residents want the city to address, comes up in every poll.
“One thing residents want us to focus on is public safety and crime prevention,” Kabir said.
In the survey from two years ago, 28% of respondents said crime prevention was the most important issue facing the community.
College Park does not have its own police force. Instead, the city relies on Prince George’s County Police, contracted officers, the University of Maryland (UMD) Police Department, the Metro Transit Police Department and Maryland-National Capital Park Police as its law enforcement agencies.
Kabir said some city leaders have discussed whether the city could improve public safety by creating a small police department of its own. However, the city manager’s proposed fiscal year 2027 budget does not include funding for a police force.
Survey respondents also pointed to speeding, traffic congestion, cut-through traffic and parking as problems for the city to address.
Kabir said the city has spent a lot of time and money to improve walkability and will respond to the residents’ request to consider road and traffic improvements.
Also in the survey, 51% said College Park could benefit from more third places—locations in the city outside of home or work where people can gather and socialize.
Duvall Field, in North College Park, might be one of those spaces once construction there is finished this summer, said Kabir, who added the city is spending approximately $8 million on upgrading parks throughout the city. (See related story on Page X.)
Despite their concerns, most residents said they are satisfied with living in College Park.
The report said that 80% of residents who took the survey would recommend living here and 78% expect to remain in the city for the next five years.
“About 79% rated their own neighborhoods as excellent or good places to live,” Kabir said. “And about 78% rated College Park overall as an excellent or good place to live.”
The survey also found that 84% feel safe in their neighborhoods and 80% said they feel safe near the UMD campus.