Do you think your community had a good year in 2013?

            As the New Year approaches you may be pondering this question a lot. Getting to the answer requires another question: do the members of your community think they had a good year? Do they feel that their quality of life improved, that their voices were heard in the decision-making process, that topics important to the community were discussed and investigated by local city and county officials?

            Getting feedback from your community can be challenging since no single way can be the best way to reach a diverse community.  Offered here are five sources to help prompt ideas on what to measure in your community, how to measure it, and ways to use citizen input in decision making without surveying your citizens.

• · “Alliance Members Define, Measure, and Compare Quality of Life Among Cities,” an article written by Rebecca Ryan, illustrates seven factors that can be used to measure quality of life, especially for communities hoping to attract millennials.
• · “City of Bloomington, NM Residents Give High Grades to City in Citizen Survey ” shows the results from the National Citizen’s Survey of Bloomington, NM, and how the city is doing compared to the national average. A sample survey is also provided for communities looking to create their own citizen survey.
• · “Williamsburg, VA Launches Smartphone App for Citizens” describes how Williamsburg has created an app, CITY411, that enables citizens to make non-emergency requests through their smart phones.  This app allows for constant citizen feedback so the city can respond to needs quickly and improve their customer service.
• “Online Public Comment Forums: Why Public Hearings Need to Be Augmented via the Internet” is an article that shows how video and other means can be used to increase citizens’ ability to provide feedback to their local government officials and elected representatives.
• · “Learn about how the National Citizen and National Employee surveys can assist in your decision making”  is a blog post describing how to use these two national surveys to your advantage in areas of program planning, budgeting, goal setting, and performance measurement.
• · “Tackling Wicked Problems Takes Resident Engagement” is a PM article that challenges mangers to think differently and expand efforts to truly engage with community members and that offers strategies to strengthen public problem solving.
• · “First, the Residents” is a PM cover story about building trust and value through creative and meaningful civic engagement. The companion article, “The Time for Transparency Is Now,” urges managers to use every tool possible to enhance the community’s value to residents.

Best, 

Robin Saywitz 

ICMA Knowledge Network Intern 

rsaywitz@icma.org