Online Survey Shows Norwalkers Happy With City As A Place To Live, Work And Play.

February 22, 2018

Cover of Results of General Survey on Norwalk This fall as citywide planning for the POCD (Plan of Conservation and Development) got underway, the city had an opportunity to gather public input both at live events and via an online survey. Previously, we wrote about some of the feedback from the public event. The online survey results are in! We learned that most people who took the survey are happy with living in Norwalk and consider it a good place to raise a family and work – and especially to have fun. Some concerns for the future include making sure the city provides quality education for its children and preserving open space in the city. Some of the details are below.

A Bit About Who Took The Survey

Of the more than 350 people who took the online survey, the majority (134) were 50-64 years old, followed by 35 to 39 year olds (93). Ethnically, the vast majority of respondents were white (302) with 20 identifying as Hispanic and 22 as “other” or not preferring to answer.

Household income skewed high with 34% answering that their income was $150,000 or more, followed next by those having an income of $100,000- $150,000 (24%). Respondents also tended to be longtime Norwalk residents with a bit more than 50% (184) having lived in the city for more than 20 years, followed by 11-20 years.

Areas of the city that were most represented included much the Cranbury section, East Norwalk and parts of South Norwalk over to Rowayton and the Darien line. More than 75% of the respondents live in single-family homes.

Map of Districts that make up city of Norwalk with pie chart of where people live

Survey Results

Overall, those who took the survey are happy with Norwalk as a home. More than 80% rate the quality of life in Norwalk as good or excellent as well as a good or excellent place to live. A smaller percentage felt the same about Norwalk being a good place to raise a family –60% of respondents said Norwalk was good or excellent in this regard. As a place to work, 64% of those surveyed said it was good or excellent. As a place to have fun, nearly 70% gave the city a good or excellent rating. For retirees, the picture was not as rosy, as not quite 25% rated Norwalk as a good or excellent place to retire.

Pie charts results of "how you rate Norwalk" quality of life and as place to livePie charts results of "how you rate Norwalk" as place to raise family and to workPie charts results of "how you rate Norwalk" as place to retire and to have fun

In terms of the future and where Norwalk should be focusing, the two largest issues cited were providing high quality public education and preserving open space. Other matters that received significant votes included creating more jobs, safe and convenient walking and biking routes, and making commercial corridors more attractive.

To take a look at the full survey results CLICK HERE.

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