Needham Trending Up in Community Survey

August 19, 2024
• Results of a biannual survey by the National Research Center at Polco shared residents’ reactions to key metrics across town.

While close to 32,000 people live in Needham, how many view the town as less of a habitat and more of a home? Every two years, a survey aims to determine just that.

The survey asks residents to offer their input on the quality of town life based on their perception of local government, mobility, the environment, safety and other factors. Of the 3,000 households randomly selected to participate, 673 responded.

Amy Haelsen, the town’s director of communications and community engagement, presented the survey findings to the Select Board last week.

Needham received high marks on community livability, with 97% of residents rating the quality of life in town as “excellent” or “good” — that’s a 3% increase from 2022. Other measures, including the quality of services, earned high ratings and far exceeded the national benchmark, composed of other communities across the country.

On cleanliness, air quality and educational opportunities for children and adults, Needham exceeded the national benchmark. Residents’ outlook on town government — including their honesty, communication with the community on issues, respectfulness and quality of services — all improved over 2022.

Needhamites also expressed overwhelming satisfaction with crime prevention and safety, which nearly topped the national benchmark communities.

Car break-ins and assaults do happen in Needham, but it’s sporadic compared to big cities, Needham Police Chief John Schlittler said. Apart from officer training and community engagement — epitomized in the department’s popular Facebook page — Schlittler said they also analyze emerging crime trends, like scams.

“I think Needham’s a community where, in general terms, people feel safe. It’s a nice community. People tend to look out for each other. There’s a lot of services that the town provides at every level, not just police and fire,” Schlittler said. “So, I think that all adds to that feeling of safety.”

Among the biggest changes since 2022 is respondents’ feelings on their personal finances — the “expected positive impact of the economy on residents’ family income” saw a 19% increase this year. Safety and the economy were rated the two highest quality facets on the survey.

However, there were significant declines when it came to Needham’s perceived affordability. Over the last six years, satisfaction with the availability of affordable quality childcare/preschool fell from 66% in 2018 to 53% in 2022 to 38% in 2024. And perhaps unsurprisingly, fewer than 20% of people positively evaluated Needham’s cost of living and the availability of affordable quality housing. Residents also voiced concern over the variety of housing options.

Street repair and snow removal saw a 7% and 5% increase respectively, but Department of Public Works Director Carys Lustig said she believes the satisfaction results from recent mild snow seasons with few plowable events. More people opt to stay indoors during inclement weather, Lustig said, which allows the DPW to more easily clean up during and after.

After the severe flooding last August, stormwater was also on residents’ minds. Compared to the 2022 survey, residents voiced much more dissatisfaction with stormwater management, contributing to the 23% drop in approval. Lustig said that factor may also not reflect the DPW’s services or the town’s storm drain capacity, but rather how climate change is impacting the system. The lack of snow may also be largely due to a changing climate, she added.

“Getting these short intensity events that are causing localized flooding in people’s basements, the town of Needham in general is clearing out fairly quickly,” Lustig said, “but unfortunately, the water overwhelms our system because it comes in so intensely and so quickly that it can kind of turns the whole town into a topographical river system.”

In looking at historical survey data, Lustig pointed to results from 2014, which followed a similarly intense, short-duration rainstorm and flooding. That year, approval dropped 11% from 2012, Lustig said.

Utility billing also dropped more than 10% from 2022, which Lustig attributes to a software issue as the town converted to a new digital system. Some residents were receiving two quarterly bills back to back, but the DPW is still “rectifying some of the billing,” Lustig said. The benefits to upgrading that system far outweigh the headaches caused by the old one, she said.

“People were frustrated because they had three months worth of water consumption that they had to pay for before we were able to alert them that there was an issue,” she said. “Now that we can read the entire town on a monthly basis, those homes will be flagged in our system, and we can notify people in advance of that bill coming out that they may have a leak on their property.”

Since the pandemic, residents are using more public transportation and walking or biking instead of driving, according to the survey, and the ease of walking and driving were rated highly. But while 62% of people feel the town’s mobility is excellent or good, 76% find it to be an important community feature, marking a potential gap in quality.

Traffic flow on major streets also earned high marks, but the upcoming Great Plain Avenue redesign — which will likely reduce the street to one lane both ways — may change things.

People praised Needham’s public library services, with 97% in approval. Rob MacLean, director of the Needham Free Public Library, said “they hit the nail on the head.”

MacLean, who joined the library in April, boasted about the staff, programming and their “really vibrant and diverse collection.” The Library of Things offers instruments, a telescope and knitting needles that can be rented out like books.

The library is also gearing up for a complete renovation of its teen room, which will increase in space five-fold, MacLean said. Construction is expected to start at the end of next June, he said.

Improvements to the library are continuous and ongoing, meaning residents may look even more favorably on its services in the next survey.

“However much you use us, whether you’re a daily patron using our public computers, or maybe come once a month and check out a book or attend a program, I think that sense of community and feeling that it’s a place where you’re welcomed is really important in creating a feeling of ‘Needham is great place to live,’” MacLean said. “I think that adds to what we see in the survey, which is people really desire to live in Needham, and they’re happy with the services that they get here, and we’re just excited that we’re able to be part of that.”