Residents' confidence in Montgomery County government at 63%, according to new report
MONTGOMERY COUNTY, Md. (FOX 5 DC) - Montgomery County has released the results of their 2021 National Community Survey that shows residents' overall quality of life rating in the county sits around 86% while residents' overall confidence in the Montgomery County government sits at 63%.
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SOURCE: Montgomery County
The county put out the biennial survey on everything from traffic to COVID-19 in December 2021 to 5,000 random households and was made available to any other Montgomery County residents who wished to participate.
The county says the report ultimately provides the opinions of a representative sample of 565 residents of Montgomery County, around 12% of the random homes sampled, and results were weighted so that the demographic profile of respondents was representative of the demographic profile of adults in Montgomery County.
The survey included 39 questions, asking residents about topics ranging from the traffic flow on major streets to how well the county communicates with its residents.
Montgomery County says the survey focuses on the "livability" of the county.
"A livable community is a place that is not simply habitable, but that is desirable. It is not only where people do live, but where they want to live," the county's website reads.
Residents were asked to rate their overall confidence in the Montgomery County government.
The county received 15% "Excellent" responses and 47% "Good" responses. In addition, the number of "Fair" responses reached 23% and the number of "Poor" responses reached 15%.
SOURCE: Montgomery County
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County Executive Marc Elrich says he believes the results indicate that many people think the government is working for them.
"I think for those for whom COVID was a very important issue and they thought the government was overreaching, I'm sure it affects their perceptions of county government," he says.
The county also concluded on their website that residents gave relatively lower quality ratings to the overall feeling of safety in the county with 77% "Excellent" or "Good" responses.
They also noted that about 8 in 10 survey respondents gave favorable ratings to Montgomery County as a place to work, the overall quality and variety of business and service establishments and shopping opportunities.
SOURCE: Montgomery County
Roughly three-quarters awarded high marks to the overall economic health of the county, the county as a place to visit, vibrant downtown/commercial area and employment opportunities.
Ratings in the facet of Education, Arts, and Culture also tended to be higher than or similar to the national benchmarks, according to the county's website.
SOURCE: Montgomery County
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For more information on the survey results, click here.