PREVIOUSLY

Barely half of Arcata residents and workers think the city is headed in the right direction, according to a recent survey done by the city through the poll service FlashVote. 

302 people answered the survey, the first done since Arcata contracted with FlashVote this year. It was open to anyone who lives or works in Arcata for 48 hours last week.

51% of respondents said they thought Arcata was “generally headed in the right direction;” another 30% said they weren’t sure, and 18% said that the city was headed down the wrong track.

The outlook brightens a tad if excluding non-residents: 55% of the 218 that answered thought things were going well. 

Most respondents weren’t entirely negative. Over 80% said that “access to parks and recreational activities” and “community events, arts and culture” were Arcata’s strong points — but a scant 4% thought that the cost and availability of housing was a strength. 

Over 70% thought Arcata should focus on repairing infrastructure like pipes and roads. Prioritizing job growth and economic development was close behind. Only 15% said Arcata needed to do a better job maintaining its parks.

It’d take forever to compress and summarize all of the data into a readable article, but there are some takeaways from an anonymous final free-write section about community needs and suggestions worth sharing. 

A lot of people are concerned about parking and offer some suggestions to add more around the city (someone suggests building a parking garage near the plaza). 

Many more worry about affordable housing and how the city treats its homeless (evenly split between providing more services and cracking down). A couple called out hyperspecific community needs like opening the bathroom in Redwood Park, adding more speed humps around town, and making the plaza feel more safe. 

There’s a few, um, interesting ideas in there too. One respondent implores the city to “Bring back the Alibi!” Another wants the city to stop including links in emails; someone else suggests building an “adult playground for seniors;” there’s the requisite cohort of conspiracy theorists.

But a few took the opportunity to say thanks.

“I love Arcata, you all are doing a good job. Keep the town clean, deal with people not following the laws, deal with blight. Thank you.”