More about the 2005 Annual Survey

Opinions about growth

Opinions about regional growth remain steady

Over the past five years, opinion about the Twin Cities area’s overall growth has held steady. Just under half of residents think the area has been growing too fast and just over half think growth is at the right pace.

But the sense that residents have of their local community has shifted during the same period. In 2005, 38% of people thought their own community was growing too quickly, compared with 26% in 2000. Residents of developing suburbs are twice as likely to feel that local growth is happening too fast - 59% - compared with about one-fourth of residents in Minneapolis, St. Paul and developed suburbs.

Transportation solutions

Majority sees rail expansion as “very important”

Sixty percent of residents said they believe expanding the commuter rail/light rail system is very important for meeting the region's long-term transportation needs.

The survey asked residents to rate the importance of eight programs for meeting the region’s long-term transportation needs. More residents said expanding the commuter/light-rail transit system is “very important” - from 49% in 2004 to 60% in 2005. Expanding the bus system also rose in importance, from 29% to 43%.

On average, residents rated five of the eight programs between moderately important and very important. In rank order, they were:

Optimize the capacity and safety of existing roads
Expand the commuter rail/light rail system
Add extra lanes to freeways
Expand the park-and-ride/express bus system
Expand the Metro Transit bus system

Residents identify ways to cut commuting costs

Residents who work outside their homes were asked how likely they were to try new commuting solutions in order to reduce their transportation costs. Respondents could choose more than one solution. Fifty-two percent said they are moderately or very likely to drive a more fuel-efficient vehicle.

One-third said they are at least moderately likely to take a bus or light rail or find work closer to home (as opposed to only 16% who said they would move in order to be closer to work). Twenty-nine percent said they are at least moderately likely to rideshare or work at home/telecommute.

Rating the Council and its programs

View of Council remains steady

Positive public opinion about the Metropolitan Council remained steady compared with 2004, and is greatly improved from five years ago. Thirty-seven percent of residents think the Council is doing a good or very good job; 46% give the Council a rating of “fair.”

Monitoring water quality gets highest rank

The survey also asked residents to rate the importance of a dozen Council programs for maintaining the region’s quality of life. All 12 received average scores above “moderately important.” The top six programs were, in rank order:

Monitoring water quality
Planning to accommodate the region’s growing population
Wastewater treatment
Grants to clean up and reuse polluted lands
Natural resources and land conservancy
Regional parks and trails

About the survey

Residents who participated in the survey were randomly selected, contacted by mail and invited to fill out a survey and mail it back. A total of 3,600 adult residents of the seven-county area were selected; 344 were determined to be unlocatable or deceased, leaving 3,256 active records in the sample database. One thousand eighty two surveys were completed or returned, for a response rate of 33%. The margin of error for most findings in the study is +/- three percent.