2009 Citizen Survey
Survey Instrument -- Survey Tabulation
A citizen survey conducted along with the update of the Missouri City Comprehensive Plan validates the Plan’s primary points, elements and direction. Following work by a 26-person advisory committee, public meetings and review by the Planning and Zoning Commission, City Council adopted the updated Plan this fall.
Survey respondents rated the top three most important quality of life factors to be:
Focus on crime prevention and security
Limitations on the amount of rental housing
Community beautification
More local job opportunities and recruitment of high quality restaurants, respectively, received the next highest marks.
The firm Kendig Keast facilitated the advisory committee’s activities and utilized the firm of CDS Market Research to conduct the citizen survey.
Surveys were mailed to 5,000 randomly selected households throughout the city and to those located in the City’s extraterritorial jurisdiction (the unincorporated areas eligible for annexation).
The survey consisted of nine questions addressing important issues raised during the development of the updated Comprehensive Plan and eight demographic questions.
“More than 77% of respondents confirmed the Comprehensive Plan guidelines that remaining vacant land zoned for commercial uses should be developed, with 54% of this group wanting it based on thoughtful planning and high standards of design,” said Director of Planning Ornita Green. “Such development has the potential to ease homeowners’ tax burden.”
For residential development, citizens equally preferred single-family homes (40%) and also a concentration on redevelopment of older, obsolete residential properties (37%) as opposed to development on vacant land.
The majority of citizens favored a “town center”, with only 11% saying one was not needed. The two sites generating the most interest were in the vicinity of Highway 6 and the Fort Bend Parkway and the vacant site just south of City Hall on Texas Parkway. One will be addressed by the town center at Highway 6 and Sienna Parkway, with infrastructure currently underway there. The George E. Johnson study identified the need for a similar opportunity on Texas Parkway. The City will continue to work towards making that happen.
With regard to the Brazos riverbank and nearby area at the southern end of Missouri City, 78% wanted it preserved as a “green area” for public parks and recreational use.
Only 24% of respondents favored water and wastewater services to continue to be operated by utility districts as they are today, while 75% wanted the City’s involvement at some level where service and facilities could be improved and if it made economic sense.
On the subject of public transportation, 70% favored some type of mass transit – either more park-and-ride service to major employment centers or commuter rail.
Regarding street improvements, only 21% wanted to leave the street system as it is. The majority wanted wider streets and aesthetic improvements as the budget was made available. Almost 59% wanted to see street widening projects along certain corridors only as rapidly as the City also could afford to add continuous sidewalks, landscaping and other aesthetic improvements. The remaining 20% favored more immediate action so long as right of way was available.
“Of the 5,000 surveys, 590, or almost 12%, were returned – an extraordinarily high number for a survey that offered no incentives,” Green said.
“In my 19 years of market research, I have never seen such a high response,” said Ray Lawrence with CDS Market Research. “It is clear you have a highly educated constituency who are sincerely interested in the future of their community.”
Green said that slightly more than 96 percent of respondents were homeowners and only 2% of respondents were residents less than one year. About 30 percent of respondents were aged 45-54, with the majority of other respondents at least 34 years of age.
She pointed out that many of the respondents’ answers to growth and development factors affirm actions the City currently takes.
“The Comprehensive Plan sets the foundation for the community’s vision of our City’s future for the next 20 years and beyond,” said Green. “It establishes the guidelines for our community’s impending growth. City Council will look to the plan and the citizen survey as additional tools as they address growth, development, transportation, infrastructure, amenities and image in future programs and projects.”
The survey instrument and tabulations are available at www.missouricitytx.gov. Click on the "For Residents" tab.