The point was to give residents a chance to voice their opinions about how city services are delivered and where they would prioritize improvement, Neighborhood Services Administrator Sam Engel has said.
While the three methods of surveying had some conflicting results, input from the community meetings and the telephone survey put traffic, transportation and housing at the top of the improvement list.
Improving traffic flow and easing congestion, increasing parking in neighborhoods and downtown, and expanding public transportation alternatives were also priorities for residents, Franz said.
Lower priority was placed on diversity and building safety in the results of the community meetings, he said.
The Web survey — in which a little more than half of the participants had a net income of $100,000 or more a year — ranked public art, neighborhood character and historic preservation among the high priorities for improvement, Franz said.
The City Council took a second look at a plan to alleviate downtown-area traffic and parking issues on Tuesday, specifically considering the implementation of $1-per-hour metered street parking in the downtown area.
The plan is related to an ongoing study for the Downtown Specific Plan, and was first presented to the council last month.
Bonnie Nelson, head of the Nelson/Nygaard consultant team the city hired to prepare the mobility plan, presented more in-depth suggestions of the plan on Tuesday, including the idea of $1-per-hour metered street parking — which, combined with other metered parking, could potentially generate $1 million a year in new revenue to the city, she said.
She suggested that at the same time, the city could offer 90 minutes free at the parking structures to increase their usage.
