"Ferguson Township is a Great Place to Live". The Survey Results are in!

NCS Community Graphic

This year, Ferguson Township took part in The National Community Survey (NCS). The NCS surveyed over 400 residents about quality of life in the Township within the three pillars of a community (Community Characteristics, Governance and Participation) across eight central facets of community (Safety, Mobility, Natural Environment, Built Environment, Economy, Recreation and Wellness, Education and Enrichment and Community Engagement). The Survey aims to quantify the notion that a community is not simply habitable but desirable. It is not only where people do live, but where they want to live. This is the second time Ferguson Township participated in this survey; the last one took place in 2011.

Key Takeaways

Nine in ten residents rated the overall quality of life in Ferguson Township and the Township as a place to live as excellent or good. About 9 in 10 residents gave excellent or good ratings to the overall appearance of the Township and Ferguson Township as a place to raise children, and both of these ratings were higher than those given in other communities nationwide. Roughly 9 in 10 respondents gave positive scores to the overall image of the Township and their neighborhood as a place to live, while three-quarters were pleased with Ferguson Township as a place to retire. Nine in ten residents would recommend living in Ferguson Township to someone who asked.

Residents identified Natural Environment as an important area of focus for the Township in the next two years and ratings within this facet tended to be positive. About 9 in 10 residents gave excellent or good ratings to the quality of the overall natural environment in Ferguson Township (similar to the national benchmark) and to the cleanliness of the Township and air quality (both higher than the benchmarks). Nine in ten respondents gave positive scores to garbage collection while roughly 7 in 10 were pleased with recycling, yard waste pick-up, drinking water, open space and natural areas preservations. These ratings of Township services were similar to those given elsewhere.

About 9 in 10 residents thought that environmentally sensitive areas and forest/open space should be high or medium priorities for the Township to improve or expand while 8 in 10 rated Township parks as a priority. Finally, in an open-ended question that asked residents to write in their own words what they believed would be the biggest challenge facing the Township in the next five years, 4 in 10 of those who made a comment gave an answer related to growth, overdevelopment, or maintaining rural character and open space; this was the most frequently-mentioned topic area.

Safety was also identified as an important focus area by residents. Virtually all residents gave favorable marks to the overall feeling of safety in the Township and to feeling safe in their neighborhood and in Ferguson Township’s commercial area, and the rating for the overall feeling of safety was above average. Service ratings within the facet of Safety were also positive: at least 9 in 10 residents awarded positive marks to police, fire, ambulance/EMS and crime prevention services, while three-quarters gave excellent or good ratings to fire prevention and animal control. Further, ratings for police and crime prevention were higher than those given in other communities nationwide. When asked to rate the job Ferguson Township does at practicing community policing, three-quarters of residents awarded excellent or good ratings.

Ratings for Mobility were especially strong. About 8 in 10 respondents gave positive ratings to the overall ease of travel in the Township and paths and walking trails; this latter rating was higher than those seen elsewhere. About 7 in 10 residents gave high scores to ease of travel by bicycle and by public transportation (which were above average) and to ease of travel by car and ease of walking (similar to the average). Three-quarters of residents were pleased with bus or transit services in the community, and one-third reported using public transportation instead of driving; these were both higher than the national benchmarks.

See the full detailed report here.