Ron Gailey

Most Minot residents consider their city to be headed in the right direction and especially find it a great place to raise children.

Results of a community survey released to the Minot City Council Monday, Nov. 17, identified areas where residents would like to see improvements but also highlighted their satisfaction with other aspects of their city. The survey firm, OnPointe Insights, reported 1,208 respondents participated in the recent online polling.

The survey found 58% of respondents feel the city is headed in the right direction. It showed 29% feel the direction has improved in the past three years. Another 39% thought it stayed the same and 32% saw it as worsening.

“We looked at this by area, and northeast Minot tends to be a little more negative,” said Ron Gailey, founder of OnPointe Insights. “Interesting enough, we didn’t get a lot who are in downtown Minot, but they’re pretty positive.”

Among the top community characteristics people are positive about include friendly and caring people, parks and recreation, and safety and low crime rate. Respondents suggest improvements in road maintenance and infrastructure, 27%; property taxes, 24%; crime and safety, 18%; shopping and retail options, 13%; and city spending and budget management, 13%.

Asked whether respondents would refer Minot to a friend, the city came in at just 18%, or near the bottom of a comparative list of cities in other states. However, Minot climbs the chart a ways when it comes to asking about whether the city has improved.

“These are kind of like the hand you’ve been dealt from years and years of people living in and people leaving Minot. But the real question might be, are we going in the right direction and have things improved?” Gailey said. “There’s actually some solid improvement and you’re doing well compared to a number of cities. So maybe where you were, some people feel a little bit more negative, but where you’re going is actually positive.”

In specific areas, Minot residents consider city traffic flow, snow removal and condition of streets to be important matters. Regarding traffic flow, only 10% consider the city to be doing well while 57% call it poor. Snow removal on neighborhood streets received a good or very good rating from 15% and a poor or very poor rating from 54%. People were somewhat more satisfied with the condition of major streets, with 24% calling them good and 34% calling them poor. Those between the end ranges gave the traffic and streets an OK rating.

“A lot of people felt a great place to raise children was the most important thing that the city could focus on, and you’re doing very well,” Gailey said. Of the 51% who ranked it as the most important city feature, 69% felt the city is doing a good job.

Coming in second in importance was property maintenance and cleanliness, which are code enforcement issues, with 30% identifying it at the top of their lists. Half of those respondents indicated the city is doing a poor job in that area, however.

In terms of growth and development, 45% of respondents identified attracting and retaining quality businesses as the top goal, with 52% of those respondents saying the city is doing a poor job. Other higher priority issues in that category were redevelopment of abandoned and under-utilized property and affordable housing options.

More than half of respondents who identified neighborhood safety as a top security concern reported feeling safe in their neighborhoods, while 42% those who prioritized safety at parks, trails and recreation areas gave Minot a good or very good rating in that area.

“Adequate neighborhood street lighting – some people feel that’s the focus, and some just simply would like to see more police in the neighborhood,” Gailey said.

Regarding city leadership, the highest percentage of respondents identified fiscal responsibility and transparency as the top two most important traits, followed by valuing resident input and engagement. Of those who chose fiscal responsibility as most important, 57% said the city was doing a poor job and only 9% found it good. Of those who prioritized transparency, 19% said the city is doing well and 40% said it is doing poorly. Results on resident input and engagement also saw half the respondents prioritizing that value disappointed.

The most important results, though, are those garnered when asking respondents to consider all those different elements and identify the most important, Gailey said, singling out the top five community priorities.

“A great place to raise children is important and you’re doing really well, but it probably suggests you shouldn’t take your eye off that because it’s important and you should ensure that it is considered in your decision making,” Gailey said. “You live in a population where fiscal responsibility is highly important, and so they do care about that, but they do want to attract and retain quality businesses and they would love a little bit more effort to remove snow in the neighborhood and maybe we can see about improving the flow of traffic on city streets.”

Asked about specific types of spending, respondents gave strong support to Third Street Bridge replacement, with good support for police building rehabilitation, incentives to attract quality businesses and relocation of the headquarters fire station at 2111 10th St. SW. When pitted against each other, the Third Street Bridge was the obvious priority.

Council member Mike Blessum said survey results line up with results of previous city surveys but should be considered in conjunction with other information.

“This is a set of data points. This is one perspective that’s going to help us shape where we go from here forward, and it’s an important one. The fact that we got a good response, I think, is a good sign,” he said.