The results are in from the 2022 National Community Survey. 43% of Parkites feel that the quality of life in Park City is excellent. Photo: Park City Municipal.

PARK CITY, Utah — In December 2022, Park City Municipal (PCM) launched its National Community Survey (NCS) to gather community feedback and gauge City services performances. The results are in.

On Thursday, March 2, a portion of the City Council meeting is dedicated to survey findings and takeaways at the Park City Library Community Room at 9:20 a.m. Attendees can join in person or online via Zoom. The full results can be found here.

Overall takeaways from the results inform the city that Parkites believe their community to be safe and a desirable place to live, highly valuing the trail systems, access to recreation, transportation options and opportunities.

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Survey-takers’ areas of concern were hot-button topics like traffic, public transit, affordable housing, and childcare.

“As public engagement professionals, we rely on tools like the NCS to help shape city discussions,” said Communications Manager Clayton Scrivner. “I would say my big takeaway is, it seems like residents are happy with city services, which as a city employee makes me happy. And the community shares concerns that are priorities for us, which match up with what we should be focusing on, like affordable housing and traffic.”

In contrast to much of the positive feedback, community members feel at odds with or unclear on the direction Park City seems to be taking. Jager and Scrivner explained this result will be discussed in detail at Thursday’s Council meeting.

“The community definitely continues to indicate that Park City is a great place to live and is a safe place to live,” said Community Engagement Manager for the city Linda Jager. “Issues like cost of living, childcare, preschool, and housing, are continuing to be a concern, we’re seeing not only in Park City but a lot of the other communities that participate in the survey.”

With over 500 communities participating in the NCS, Park City Municipal is able to compare its results nationally and to select similar mountain town and resort communities, like Steamboat, Colorado; Sedona, Arizona; Lake Tahoe, California; Estes Park, Colorado; Laguna Beach, California, and others.

“[The benchmarks are] an especially valuable part of the survey so we can really look at communities facing similar issues,” Jager said.

Compared to mountain town and resort benchmarks, Park City claimed number one spots for opportunities to participate in community matters, opportunities to volunteer, parks and recreation, and carpooling instead of driving.

Park City scored lower compared to benchmarks in affordability of quality childcare, affordability of quality food, attracting people of diverse backgrounds, cost of living, ease of public parking, and yard waste pick up.

Compared to national benchmark ratings, Park City received higher scores in 51 areas, like opportunities to volunteer (#1), transit use, carpool (#1,) walk instead of driving, and fitness and recreation opportunities (#2). Community involvement activities, like public meetings, contacting elected officials, and opportunities to participate in community matters, were ranked in the top five nationally.

A complete breakdown of the NCS results can be found in a presentation created by PCM, 2022 National Community Survey Overview. To learn more of what Park City Municipal, City Council, and public learned from the survey results, attend the Council meeting Thursday, March 2, in person at the Park City Library or via Zoom.