Up and Coming Weekly is a weekly publication in Fayetteville, NC and Fort Bragg, NC area offering local news, views, arts, entertainment and community event and business information.
Issue link: http://www.epageflip.net/i/1025129
WWW.UPANDCOMINGWEEKLY.COM SEPTEMBER 12-18, 2018 UCW 9 ree times since 2013, Fayetteville City Council has commissioned sur- veys that asked residents what they think about city government and the services provided. ETC Institute of suburban Kansas City, Missouri, has conducted the surveys every other year and included in its findings short-term increases and decreases in citizen satisfaction. ETC has found that residents generally have a positive perception of Fayetteville. "e survey results helped to identify areas in which we are doing well and areas in which we need to improve or place additional emphasis," City Manager Doug Hewett said. Residents report overall satisfac- tion with city services. Eighty-five percent of respondents gave high marks to fire protection and rescue services. Sixty-eight percent spoke highly of police protection. Other municipal services with the highest levels of satisfaction included solid waste (trash) collection, curbside recycling, the courtesy of city em- ployees and the ease of reaching city employees. Seventy-seven percent of the re- spondents said they feel safe walking alone in neighborhoods during the day. Parks and recreation programs and facilities are well-regarded across the city, which partially ex- plains the success two years ago of a $35 million bond referendum. e biggest complaints are unhap- piness with traffic flow and lack of adequate maintenance of city streets. Most residents who an- swered the survey were neutral with traffic flow. e 43,000 citizens of West Fayetteville who were annexed 15 years ago are still unhappy with traffic issues. Other areas with the lowest level of satisfaction included lack of bike paths, the slow removal of aban- doned vehicles and the inadequacy of public parking in the downtown area. irty-one percent of the people said the city seemed un- prepared to manage development and growth, something that caused council member Larry Wright to question whether people under- stand what the city does. "Our citi- zens are not really aware of all that we're doing," Wright said. ETC Institute Project Manager Ja- son Morado said the purpose of the biennial surveys is to gather input from residents so that the findings can serve as a benchmark for the future. e seven-page surveys were mailed to 4,000 randomly selected citizens. e goal was to receive at least 600 responses in return. Morado said 696 surveys were returned. Many of the respondents were also surveyed by emails. e margin of error was calculated to be +/- 3.7 percent. Fayetteville residents respond to survey by JEFF THOMPSON NEWS In a recent survey, Fayetteville residents shared their views on several topics about the city. Photo by rawpixel on Unsplash. JEFF THOMPSON, Re- porter. COMMENTS? Editor@ upandcomingweekly.com. 910-484-6200. If you park your car on Person Street adjacent to the county court- house, you might pull into a spot that indicates two-hour parking. You'll do a double take at another sign on the same pole that says no parking. A closer look discloses that a small slot between two parking spaces has been carved out for ac- cess to a fire hydrant. Sometimes, things stand out like a sore thumb. A drive along Hay Street reveals something never seen before: a massive high-rise construction crane next to the old Prince Charles Hotel building. Downtown Fayetteville's skyline will soon be quite different. Deputy City Manager Kristoff Bauer said the crane will be in position for the next couple of years for construction of an eight-story hotel and office complex that will be built on top of a five-floor parking garage. With 13 stories, it will become downtown's tallest structure. e Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat defines skyscrapers as those buildings which reach or exceed 490 feet in height. e parking deck should be com- pleted next spring when the minor league baseball stadium opens for business. But Bauer said it will be another year or so after that for construction to be completed on the entire project. Around downtown by JEFF THOMPSON Construction of Fayetteville's first eight-story building is underway.