BY PAULA MINAERT — Some Hyattsville residents seem pretty happy with their city, according to a just-released community survey. It was done in July and August in a random sampling of 646 people, after an initial 2,000 surveys were mailed out.
These people said they’re mostly satisfied with city services such as trash and yard waste collection, police response to emergencies and city parks and recreation programs. They said they are least satisfied with the city’s transportation planning and its management of finances.
On September 6, the findings of the 2011 Hyattsville Community Survey were presented to the city council by Karen Falk of the ETC Institute, which conducted the survey.
Two of the services respondents said are most important to them are related to public safety: the city’s crime-prevention efforts and the police response to emergencies. The third item people want the city to focus on is street and sidewalk maintenance.
The three biggest issues respondents see the city facing in the next five years are crime and public safety, traffic and school-related issues.
Falk said the survey has a 95 percent level of accuracy. But Councilmember Carlos Lizanne (Ward 4) pointed out that the 2010 census showed that Hyattsville is majority African American, followed by Hispanic and then white residents. The survey respondents, however, were primarily (51 percent) white.
