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HomeMy WebLinkAbout06-12-22 Public Comment - K. Thomas - Community SurveyFrom:agenda@bozeman.net To:Agenda Subject:Thank you for your public comment. Date:Sunday, June 12, 2022 4:48:16 PM A new entry to a form/survey has been submitted. Form Name:Public Comment Form Date & Time:06/12/2022 4:48 PM Response #:1598 Submitter ID:50995 IP address:71.15.200.95 Time to complete:2 min. , 19 sec. Survey Details Page 1 Public comment may be submitted via the form below, or by any of the following options. Public comment may also be given at any public meeting. Email: agenda@bozeman.net Mail to: Attn: City Commission PO Box 1230 Bozeman, MT 59771 First Name Kristine Last Name Thomas Email Address krisethomas@hotmail.com Phone Number 406-587-7193 Comments June 10, 2022 RE: 2022 Community Survey by National Research Center, Inc. Dear City of Bozeman, I have been asked to participate in the 2022 Community Survey by National Research Center, Inc. Thank you for conducting this survey. While it covers many important areas concerning the quality of life in our community, it misses key points in the way the questions are asked and the ambiguity of some of the rating systems and the survey design. It is difficult to give sensible answers to some of these survey questions. For example: Bozeman as a place to retire or work – yes it would be a good place if you could afford it. Otherwise it is not. So it is difficult to answer those questions and the results may be skewed because of that. Or the results may be un-useable or unhelpful. Oversights in this survey include things like: - Services: If we want to improve many of the factors sited in the survey such as police, safety, recreation services, emergency services, health services, etc. than we have to address affordable housing for essential workers. You can ask all the questions you want about the quality of these things but if you aren’t looking at the core issue – how to keep essential workers – than these are all moot points. - Parking: there’s only one question on the ease of public parking. There are parking issues not only in our historic downtown but also in our neighborhoods as large apartment buildings are added without adequately addressing the parking. It’s a significant oversight to not address this in more detail in the survey. - Tourism: Where are the questions addressing the growth directly relate to tourism? These could include questions about allowing short-term rentals, supporting lobbying efforts for instituting a bed tax, requiring that tourist businesses such as hotels build worker housing, etc. - A University Town: Nothing in the survey touches on the relationship of the city with MSU. MSU’s high growth rate without concurrent development of student housing has lead to huge challenges in the affordable housing market. This is a huge hole in the survey. Is it essential for the university and the city to work together closely and strategically? Yes! More effort needed! - Nothing in the survey deals with how the city is handling the mega developers. Many citizens believe that the city commission has been given the responsibility to represent us in order to interpret the rules and regulations and act in behalf of the community as a whole. Yet it seems the commission believes they have no choice in the face of the developers. (Judges are appointed to interpret the law - this is true for city commissions also. This is a role they can take.) Isn’t there some way a survey could take the pulse on this issue and get some useful feedback to our city leaders on how they lead? - Sprawl: What do we think about how sprawl has been handled? How has sprawl affected the quality of life? Is infill in historic neighborhoods a realistic answer to sprawl? How about some questions that get a pulse on what direction Bozemanites would like to see concerning sprawl? - Preservation of the historical and cultural character of the community: Historic and cultural areas are neglected as we let developers design our town. Are there some additional questions that can get a better pulse on this? - etc. We are loosing longtime residents who have been the fabric of this community. We are so saddened to see our elder friends who have spent a lifetime here have to leave because they are on a fixed income. We are saddened to see friends in their working prime (nurses, PAs, teachers, etc.) leave because of the affordability issue and not being able to buy a home. We are saddened to see our adult children have to leave. But we do understand this is happening in communities across the Inter-mountain West that offer a good quality of life. They become competitive places to live. It is not just Bozeman. So – can we ask some questions that show a true understanding of the major issues at hand? Not just a survey that could be written for any community in the country? This survey neglects the biggest issues we face. Why are we paying money for a survey that is so mainstream and not specific to our needs? Sincerely, Kris Thomas A long time resident…. sigh If you would like to submit additional documents (.pdf, .doc, .docx, .xls, .xlsx, .gif, .jpg, .png, .rtf, .txt) along with your comment, you may alternately address agenda@bozeman.net directly to ensure receipt of all information. Thank you, City Of Bozeman This is an automated message generated by Granicus. Please do not reply directly to this email.