Based on the results of a community survey, Wilsonville residents generally are satisfied with the city — but they are also concerned about affordability and the lack of a vibrant downtown.
The National Community Survey has been conducted in Wilsonville every two years since 2012. Residents are able to give feedback on the city’s services, amenities and general quality of life in Wilsonville.
Conducted between March 8 and April 19, surveys were mailed to 3,000 randomly selected addresses in Wilsonville. Of those sent out, 422 were returned. The survey was also available online.
Results from the survey, presented at a City Council meeting on Monday, Aug. 5, show 87% of residents said Wilsonville is a “good” or “excellent” place to live, a decrease from 94% in 2022. For overall quality of life in the city, 86% responded “good” or “excellent” compared to 89% in 2022. The 2024 numbers are similar to the national benchmark.
Because some demographics were over-represented in the data set — specifically those who are white, high-earners, homeowners and women — Wilsonville Communications and Marketing manager Bill Evans said in the presentation that the data was weighted to more accurately reflect the community.
Wilsonville has high ratings for transit services, scoring significantly better than the national benchmark. The city exceeded national benchmarks in several questions related to mobility, including ease of public parking, bicycle travel and street repair.
The survey shows generally high approval of city government, with ratings above the national benchmark in treating all residents fairly, honesty, transparency and keeping citizens informed. Overall customer service for city employees showed 85% “excellent” or “good” responses.
Ratings for parks and natural environments were high, as both exceeded the national benchmark with over 90% “good” or “excellent” responses. Wilsonville also exceeded national benchmarks for library, drinking water, recycling and yard waste and utility infrastructure services. While fire services did not exceed the national benchmark, it had 93% “good” or “excellent” responses.
The city is lacking in retail amenities, the survey shows, with ratings on Wilsonville as a place to visit and vibrancy of downtown being the only two of 123 evaluative ratings below the national benchmarks.
After the presentation, Mayor Julie Fitzgerald noted that while people are able to gather in parks, as a tourist destination the city lacks gathering places, retail and restaurants.
“I see the community responding with dissatisfaction in the lack of restaurants and the lack of variety of retail establishments, and I hope that we can improve that,” Fitzgerald said.
Evans said residents are “feeling the economic pinch” in Wilsonville, with low ratings on questions related to affordable housing, food and health care, cost of living and child care. However, he added that there is a small increase in optimism about the economy, with one-in-four residents expressing optimism about economic impact in the next six months compared to one-in-six in 2022.
“From 2020 to 2022 there was a lot of stuff that went down,” Evans said. “Across the board those numbers are starting to creep back up.”
Of the 123 evaluative ratings in the survey, 22 were more positive than in 2022 and 10 were more negative. The most significant increases were in respecting, accepting and attracting residents from diverse backgrounds, emergency preparedness and variety of housing options — ranging between a 12% and 17% increase since 2022.
Ratings for sidewalk maintenance, utility billing, power utility and snow removal showed the most significant decreases, with snow removal being the greatest decrease at 19%.
Respondents rated affordable housing, cost of living, economy and the vibrancy of downtown at the top of Wilsonville’s priorities over the next five years, followed by education and recreational opportunities, then traffic. Concerns for these issues were raised in open-ended responses as well.
Councilor Joann Linville said the community's concern about a vibrant downtown was an important takeaway of the survey. She saw the survey as another source of information to gauge what the community wants for downtown, along with the Town Center Plan, which seeks to redevelop the area into a walkable city center.
In May, voters narrowly rejected a ballot measure to use urban renewal as a way to fund infrastructure and projects for the Town Center Plan. Because the vote was essentially 50/50, Linville said, “I don’t think (the ballot measure) tells me anything about what our citizens really think.”
Linville said it may be good for the city to do a “deeper dive” into how to gather information to help make decisions.
“I think it’s just, ‘How do we get to what (it is) that our community wants and needs?’” Linville said.
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