CCP 05-14-1990 - Laserfiche WebLink

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.. . - , - .... '-" .-~" ._,-":'~. ...o,~'-:;-~ -. --"!'."; ............~.._......,. .-.. . -,,>. . ..,. '~". ...". I Star Tribun~ Hemepin zone pages inside I =1989 - _ ~ said the residenlS' perception Richfield Quality is conect: as -in many other ,?"mmu- nities aeross the country,. cnme bas Increased in Richfield dunng the past residents - Continued from page 1 Y fewy""",- Richfield as a place with a strong "We are~ in a way, p1ease.d they ~n- communilY identity and a sense of derstand there is more cr,tme. We re give city neighborliness. heavily marketing our NelghborhoOO Watch program" because the city Police and fire service. snow plowing wants residents to ~et Involved. m good marks and water quality got at least 90 fighting crime at a nelghborlloOO lev- percent approval ratings. Proble~s el, Prosser said. with animal control, such as havmg too many animals running loose in By DilUUl EtteJ Gonzalez the city, were cited by about 16 per- StaffWriler cent of residents. Richfield gOI the kind of compliment The median age of those surveyed city officials like most when residents was 42. with 35 percent under age 35, gave the CIlY high scores for its ..qual- The survey showed that 23 percent of ity oflife." those interviewed had moved into Richfield within the past two years. An unprecedented 98 percent of re- Retirees headed 21 percent ofhouse~ spondenlS raled the city's quality of holds. . life goOO or excellent, putting Rich- field in first place among the 21 sub- "We've been doing a lot of polling in urbs surveyed by Decisions Reo, Dakota County and have seen a lot sources Ltd., a polling firm hired by of voung urban' families seeking sub- the city. The norm for cities' quaiity- urban ar~as that otTer large lots and of-life rating is about 90 percent, said newer homes. But Richtield shows Bill Morris, president of the firm, that there are also folks that are look- "Richfield ended up being No. I. It iog. for a small-town atmosphere close 1.0 where they're workingl" edged Shoreview by a little over 1 Morris said. percent." Morris said. So~e residents had reservations Morris attributed the high score to . about their city. When asked what sense among residents that they live they liked least about Richfield. 24 in a pjace with a small-town atmo&- percent mentioned airport nOlse, 10 phere next door to a large urban area. percent answered that traffic was a '.It has a lot of the advantages of the major issue. But 27 percent refused to criticize Richfield, and answered small town: neighborliness. strong in- "nothlOg. " stitutions like churches and civic or- ganizations, and residents that really City Manager Jim Prosser said resi- care about the community, All of dents' response to the airpon noise these combine to make Richfield spc- issue sends a dear signal that install- ciaJ," he said. ing a new nonh-south runway would Results were based on a telephone have a negative effect on the city. survey of 400 randomly selected resi- Ult was very ironic that information dents, according to a repon done for came to us at the same time that the city hy Decision Resources. Sur- Metropolitan Council officials ~ere vey results. which were reJeased last saying that the loss of 450 homes In a month. have a 5 percent margin of city like Richfield would not be Slg- error. nificant." Prosser said. .ore than nine out of 10 residents When questioned about crime~ many gave high ratings to parks; 88 percent residents saw i1 on the rise. About liked the appearance of their neigh- two-fiIihs of residents said thcy be- borhoOOs; 83 percent said they saw lieved propeny crimes had increased Quality continued on page 8Y in Richfield. and a third said crimes against people also were on the in. crease.