The Matanuska-Susitna Borough Community Survey, 2011 and Trends 2007–2011: A Sourcebook of Community Attitudes

Abstract

The Matanuska-Susitna Borough Community Survey (Mat-Su Survey), conducted annually since 2006, is a cooperative research effort between the Justice Center at University of Alaska Anchorage (UAA) and the Matanuska-Susitna Borough. The survey asks Mat-Su Borough residents to evaluate the quality of Borough services, provide opinions about Borough decision-making, and sum up their perceptions about a range of issues relevant to the present and future of the Mat-Su community. The 2011 survey was distributed to 2,577 adult heads-of-household in the Mat-Su Borough in the late summer and fall of 2011; a total of 1,159 surveys were returned, for a response rate of 45.0%. This sourcebook presents both the results from the 2011 Mat-Su Survey and trends from 2006–2011 in five major areas: (1) evaluation of current borough services; (2) use of borough facilities; (3) life in Mat-Su neighborhoods; (4) local government access, policies, and practices; and (5) respondent background information. Additionally, findings from a derived importance-performance analysis of the survey data are presented, as is a compilation of respondent comments.