Parachute Community Survey 2023
In an effort to anticipate and embrace future challenges, technology and trends and in sync with their commitment to the Town, the Town Council approved the Parachute Community Survey Project in 2022. Community surveys can provide local government with numerous benefits such as data-informed decision making, priority identification and resource allocation. As such, the Town partnered with Polco to perform their National Community Survey. You can find the Town Council's Goal Setting Statement and the full survey results below! Thank you to everyone who participated and submitted their feedback!
About the NCS
The National Community Survey™ (The NCS™) report is about the “livability” of Parachute. A livable community is a place that is not simply habitable, but that is desirable. It is not only where people do live, but where they want to live. The survey was developed by the experts from National Research Center at Polco. Great communities are partnerships of the government, private sector, community-based organizations and residents, all geographically connected. The NCS captures residents’ opinions considering ten central facets of a community: • Economy • Mobility • Community Design • Utilities• Safety • Natural Environment • Parks and Recreation • Health and Wellness • Education, Arts, and Culture • Inclusivity and Engagement . The report provides the opinions of a representative sample of 220 residents of the Town of Parachute collected from April 6, 2023 to July 9, 2023. The margin of error around any reported percentage is 5.5% for all respondents and the response rate for the 2023 survey was 35%. Survey results were weighted so that the demographic profile of respondents was representative of the demographic profile of adults in Parachute.
How the results are reported
For the most part, the percentages presented in the following tabs represent the “percent positive.” Most commonly, the percent positive is the combination of the top two most positive response options (i.e., excellent/good, very safe/somewhat safe, etc.). On many of the questions in the survey respondents may answer “don’t know.” The proportion of respondents giving this reply is shown in the full set of responses included in the tab “Complete data.” However, these responses have been removed from the analyses presented in most of the tabs. In other words, the tables and graphs display the responses from respondents who had an opinion about a specific item.
Comparisons to benchmarks
NRC’s database of comparative resident opinion is comprised of resident perspectives gathered in surveys from over 600 communities whose residents evaluated the same kinds of topics on The National Community Survey. The comparison evaluations are from the most recent survey completed in each community in the last five years. NRC adds the latest results quickly upon survey completion, keeping the benchmark data fresh and relevant. The communities in the database represent a wide geographic and population range. In each tab, Parachute's results are noted as being “higher” than the benchmark, “lower” than the benchmark, or “similar” to the benchmark, meaning that the average rating given by Parachute residents is statistically similar to or different (greater or lesser) than the benchmark. Being rated as “higher” or “lower” than the benchmark means that Parachute's average rating for a particular item was more than 10 points different than the benchmark. If a rating was “much higher” or “much lower,” then Parachute's average rating was more than 20 points different when compared to the benchmark.
The survey was administered after the COVID-19 pandemic, a time of challenge for many local governments. While we provide comparisons to national benchmarks, it is important to note that much of the benchmark data was collected prior to or during the pandemic. This may impact how your Town's 2023 ratings compare to other communities’ ratings from the past five years.