Thousand Oaks residents happy with quality of life, poll shows

Oct 28, 2009 (Ventura County Star - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) -- TN | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating -- Thousand Oaks residents would like to see the city improve the local economy, fire services and road maintenance, attract new employers, purchase and preserve open space, and increase the use of solar power, according to a Community Attitude Survey.

The city-commissioned survey conducted by Encinitas-based True North Research queried 400 residents via telephone on issues ranging from overall satisfaction with the quality of life in Thousand Oaks to the redevelopment of Thousand Oaks Boulevard.

The city has surveyed resident attitudes roughly every five years since it was incorporated, spokesman Andrew Powers said. The survey has a plus or minus 4.89 percent margin of error.

"The results help city departments gauge city performance and give the City Council meaningful data to better align city priorities for the future," Powers said.

The 18-minute phone survey of randomly selected residents to ensure statistical validity was phase one of the study. The second phase was the same survey available through the Internet. Postcards with pin numbers were mailed to every residential address in Thousand Oaks, allowing people to log onto a Web site to complete the survey. The Web survey had 2,785 respondents.

A vast majority of residents, 97 percent, had favorable opinions about the quality of life in Thousand Oaks, with two-thirds saying it is excellent and 31 percent saying that it is good, according to the survey.

When asked what one thing the city could change to make it a better place to live, surveyors found "the most common responses to this question were nothing/everything is OK (16 percent) or 'not sure,' (16 percent)," according to the research firm's final report.

Recommendations for specific changes found limiting growth and preserving open space, redeveloping downtown and reducing traffic congestion, among the top responses.

Nearly 70 percent of residents favor redeveloping portions of Thousand Oaks Boulevard, a project that has long ranked among the top priorities in previous surveys. About 19 percent opposed redevelopment of the boulevard. Support for redeveloping the portions of the street was highest among those who have lived in Thousand Oaks for less than 10 years, those under the age of 35, those who are employed and live with at least one child.

Among those who initially opposed or were undecided about the redevelopment of the boulevard, 7 percent said they would be supportive of the improvements when they were told the changes would improve the local economy.

When asked about specific types of improvements on the boulevard, 84.5 percent of respondents were supportive of adding off-street parking, 83 percent supported improving the appearance of the boulevard, and 76 percent supported adding bike lanes.

Incorporating mixed-use developments on the street, which often includes retail or commercial uses on bottom floors and residential units on upper floors, was met with only 47 percent support from respondents, as did the possibility of buildings with up to four stories in height.

Construction of five-story buildings along the boulevard received support of 33 percent of the respondents.

To view the survey, visit http://www.toaks.org/survey.

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