Wauwatosa recently conducted a resident survey about the level of satisfaction with city services, the value of Wauwatosa as a place to live, and various quality of life indicators. Our results were overwhelmingly positive. In addition to ranking in the top 10% for all cities in the United States, Wauwatosa's ratings exceeded the national average by more than 20% for the 23 areas listed below:
- As a place to live
- Overall quality of solid waste services
- Curbside recycling services
- Overall quality of drinking water utility services
- Yard waste removal services
- Police Department community support and education programs
- Overall quality of police services
- How quickly police respond to emergencies
- Overall quality of City Library
- Overall appearance of City
- Overall cleanliness of streets/other public areas
- Snow removal on streets in your neighborhood
- Snow removal on major City streets
- Curbside trash collection services
- Maintenance of City owned buildings
- Overall effectiveness of City Communication with the public
- As a place to visit
- Condition of City sidewalks
- Fire safety education programs
- Adequacy of City street lighting
- As a place to raise children
- How quickly emergency medical services personnel respond
- Maintenance of street signs and traffic signals
Download the full results. You can also watch the presentation to the Committee of the Whole on September 16.
The city selected ETC Institute, one of the nation's leading local government research firms, to conduct this resident survey. They have conducted scientifically-valid surveys for hundreds of cities and counties nationwide, including Wauwatosa in 2016 and 2019.
Top highlights include:
- 88% of residents indicated they were "very satisfied" or "satisfied' with Wauwatosa as a place to live (compared to a Midwest average of 76% satisfaction)
- Satisfaction with city services is much higher in Wauwatosa than other cities. Wauwatosa rated above the U.S. average in 44 of 51 areas.
- Residents identified top priorities that they'd like to see the city focus on, including:
- How well the city is managing and planning development
- flow of traffic and congestion management
- enforcing traffic laws
- condition of major city streets
- overall efforts to prevent crime
Trends to notice
There were notable increases in satisfaction since 2019:
- Snow removal on neighborhood streets
- Snow removal on major city streets
- How easy city employees were to contact
- Mowing/tree trimming along streets and other areas
There were notable decreases in satisfaction since 2019:
- Affordable housing
- How well the City is planning and managing development
- Enforcement of local traffic laws
- How easy it is to resolve billing problems
