Highlighting Key Findings: Community Perceptions Survey Findings

1. A statistically representative random telephone survey of 402 county residents, conducted by Wayne State Universitys Center for Urban Studies.
2. A written survey of 65 residents was conducted to obtain input from residents who were likely to be systematically excluded from the telephone survey (e.g., individuals who are homeless, low income and youth who are likely to have cell phones, no land line, or no phone at all).
3. An online survey of 185 Nonprofit, Business, Educational, and Political leaders.

Issues identified as major by 75% or more of any one of the respondent groups are listed below. Other issues that followed closely behind with less than 75% of the respondents identifying them as major were affordable childcare, the achievement gap, job growth and obesity. It should be noted that on many issues perceptions among the three groups varied. Often the perceptions of community leaders and residents responding to the written survey (those unlikely to have a land line telephone) were similar while the perceptions of the larger group of residents, who responded to the telephone survey, were different.