Before Tuesday’s City Council meeting, ETC Institute presented data from the biennial Auburn Citizen Survey. Auburn received above-average satisfaction ratings from its citizens overall.
Auburn performed above the national average for all city services except for traffic flow, which was slightly below average, according to the survey data. Value received for tax dollars was ranked at 75% compared to the 37% national average. Auburn was ranked highly by residents as a place to live.
Auburn has improved satisfaction from 2018 through recycling and traffic flow but has decreased in parks and recreation and the appearance of downtown.
92% of respondents were satisfied with Auburn public safety. No safety-related issues were placed as high priority.
95% of respondents believed Auburn is a good place to live, and 93% believed Auburn is a good place to raise children, according to the survey data. Auburn ranks higher than the country’s average in 57 of 61 measured statistics.
Survey data recommends the City prioritize flow of traffic and maintenance of City infrastructure to achieve greater satisfaction.
Results of the Citizen Survey will be available on the City’s website.
During the City Council meeting, Council approved expanding an Alabama Power electric substation on North Dean Road.
Council also approved for a food vendor pavilion to be built at the corner of North Donahue Drive and Martin Luther King Drive. The lot will have paved, pay-to-park parking, a pavilion and room for multiple food trucks, said City Manager Jim Buston.
There will be roughly 125 paved parking spaces in the plans, said City planning director Forrest Cotten.
The property will also serve as a bus stop on game days, said property representative Parker Lewis. The parking lot can be used as a staging area for golf carts to shuttle people on game days, said property owner Mathan Holt.
“My goal is to create something to produce a bit of revenue off that very expensive piece of property,” Holt said. “The parking lot, even though it isn’t downtown, can be utilized by various organizations … I [currently] do not use this land for anything except for game days.”
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Charlie Ramo, junior in aerospace engineering, is the content editor of The Auburn Plainsman.
