The Good Life? Survey Says Residents Content with Status Quo Burnsville

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Most people are happy with the way things are in Burnsville—or so it would seem based on a survey commissioned by the City of Burnsville.

Decision Resources, Ltd. conducted the survey during two recent telephone surveys from March to May. The survyors spoke with 700 randomly selected people—400 residents and 300 business owners or managers. The residential survey consisted of a battery of approximately 160 questions. The business survey was less thorough, with just 90 questions.

The community survey is an annual affair: To see results from past years, click here. You can see the complete results for 2012 right here, or take a look at the summary below.

• How long have the respondents lived here? About 41 percent had lived in Burnsville 10 years or less, while 59 percent had lived in town for over a decade. A significant number of the respondents—32 percent—had lived in Burnsville for over 20 years.

• Are they going to stay? For the most part, yes. About 73 percent of the respndents said they intend to stay in Burnsville longer than 10 years. Among, those who said they planned to leave a perception of a rising crime rate was the primary culprit (21 percent), followed by high taxes (14 percent). Ten percent said they they were leaving either for better schools or retirement. The remainder  offered a number of miscellaneous complaints, from poor water quality (7 percent) to "too much diversity" (3 percent).

• What was their general assessment of the city? A good chunk—28 percent— said quality of life was excellent, while 61 percent rated life in Burnsville as good and 11 percent said quality of life was fair. Only 1 percent judged life in Burnsville to be poor.

• What are the major issues facing the city, according to the surveyed? About a quarter were unsure or said "nothing" (12 percent). Others said poor economy/no jobs (10 percent), school funding (9 percent), or high taxes (9 percent).

• What approval rating did they give our city officials? Most people in the survey felt good about the city council and others at city hall: 57 percent approved, and 8 percent strongly approved. A minority, 16 percent, disapproved. A small group said they strongly disapproved of those running the city (5 percent). A sizeable chunk (15 percent) didn't know or refused to answer.

• At the same time, almost half of the respondents said they knew "very little" (38 percent) or "nothing" (11 percent) about city government and elected officials in Burnsville. About 46 percent said they knew a "fair amount" and 5 percent said they knew "a great deal" about those in power.

• To cut or not to cut? A majority (63 percent) opposed further cuts to service (3 percent strongly), even if it meant that their current tax bill would go down. Just 17 percent said they would be in favor of cuts. About 21 percent didn't know or refused the question.