Community Survey Results 2018

The results are in! We've summarized the findings of our 2018 Community Survey and put together some of the top takeaways from our respondents, the largest segment of which (39%) were residents, inclusive of renters, co-op owners, and condo owners.

Our 2018 survey focused on assessing satisfaction with and awareness of our core programs and services. Some of the questions in this year’s survey also asked respondents to provide ideas on new programs or areas of focus. For this year's survey, we received 291 responses between January 17 and March 9, our highest survey response rate, and up 194% from 2017. The survey results captured the opinions of Lincoln Square locals, with 44% of respondents who said they walk to get to Lincoln Square, followed by 35% who arrive to the neighborhood by subway.

Top Takeaways:

1. Beautification and Cleanliness & Area Maintenance programs received the highest scores across all of the BID’s programs. When asked to rate their satisfaction across all the BID’s programs, Beautification received 98% “very satisfied” & “satisfied” scores, and Cleanliness received 95% “Very Satisfied” & “Satisfied”.

When asked to rate just our clean program, 96% said that Lincoln Square is “as clean” or “cleaner than” most other neighborhoods in the city. This is up from 2017 when 93% of respondents rated it “as clean” or “cleaner than” other parts of the city. These results prove that the efforts of our clean team do not go unnoticed, and the flowers and shrubs we plant each season have a prominent impact on our neighborhood.

2. The Public Safety program received the highest number of “Don’t Know” responses. Still, when people were asked to rate their feeling of safety, 95% selected that Lincoln Square feels “as safe” or “safer” than most other neighborhoods in New York City. This is the same score as in last year’s survey (95%).  Because a high percentage of our respondents are neighborhood locals, it’s possible that many of them have not sought out the help of our PSOs for directions, for example.

3. Of all the BID’s marketing & events, Winter’s Eve is the favorite. Winter’s Eve received the highest combined “good” and “excellent” score of all our marketing initiatives at 87%. 

On marketing and events, this year’s survey focused on content, and asked what people would like to hear about in BID communications. Stories about arts & culture events and retail promotions were the top requests. This suggests that the BID is on the right track with our bi-weekly newsletter features, and we will continue to regularly highlight local cultural events and special offers by our area retailers.

Selected quotes about marketing & events:

“The Winters Eve event is awesome! I wear my hat proudly!”

 “I am pleased with the marketing that Lincoln Bid does.  It is quite helpful and I often invite others outside of the area to enjoy many of the outdoor events.”

“You all do a great job. I visit other parts of the city and realize how spoiled we are!”

4. We asked respondents to rate their quality of life concerns in Lincoln Square in this year’s survey, ranging from “my top quality of life concern” to “does not affect my quality of life”.  Overall, “Pedestrian Experience” was the top quality of life concern for all respondents. The top five concerns were rather evenly distributed, as follows:

1. Pedestrian experience (Safety, Walk-ability, etc.) top concern for 22.3%
2. Homelessness: top concern for 19.2%
3. Panhandling: top concern for 18.8%
4. Noise: top concern for 15.9%
5. Retail vacancies: top concern for 14.2%

All three vendor types: food carts, food trucks, and other vendors, were a top concern for 6.9% of respondents. With Pedestrian Experience as a top issue, the BID continues regular communication with the DOT to advocate for action on such issues as ponding, safer Broadway medians, and permanent sidewalk curb extensions.

5. Lincoln Square is all about Arts & Culture. A new question in this year’s survey, we asked people to select their favorite thing about Lincoln Square.  Arts & Culture came in first, no surprise!

6. When asked to give an overall impression of how well we are doing our job of keeping Lincoln Square clean, safe, and beautiful, the BID once again received an excellent overall score.  96% of respondents selected “good”, “very good” or “excellent”.

Even after 21 years of making Lincoln Square clean, safe, and beautiful, positive reinforcement is good to have!

Selected quotes:

“I feel privileged to live in such a well-cared for neighborhood.”

“The malls and plantings are incredible.  THANK YOU!”

“Thanks for doing a fantastic job and also for wanting feedback from the community. LSBID is a model for the entire city!”

 Thanks to all who completed our survey this year. We appreciate your feedback!