HomeMy WebLinkAboutCity Council - 04/15/2025 - WorkshopApproved Minutes
Eden Prairie City Council Workshop
5:30 p.m. Tuesday, Apr. 15, 2025
City Center Heritage Rooms, Council Chambers
8080 Mitchell Road
Eden Prairie, MN 55344
ATTENDEES
City Council Members: Mayor Ron Case, Council Members Kathy Nelson, Mark Freiberg, PG
Narayanan, and Lisa Toomey
City Staff: City Manager Rick Getschow, Public Works Director Robert Ellis, Community
Development Director Julie Klima, Parks and Recreation Director Amy Markle, Police Chief Matt
Sackett, Fire Chief Scott Gerber, Administrative Services/HR Director Alecia Rose,
Communications Manager Joyce Lorenz, City Attorney Maggie Neuville, and Recorder Sara
Potter
Guest Speakers: Michelel Kobayashi, Principal Research
MEETING AGENDA
Heritage Rooms
I. 2024 Quality of Life Survey Results
Getschow explained a statistically significant Quality of Life survey is mailed to a selected group of
residents biannually for the past 20 years. This survey, generating resident feedback, marks the
beginning of the two-year budget process. Michelle Kobayashi, Principal Research Strategist at
Polco, introduced herself. Kobayashi explained Polco is a civic communications and analytics
company dedicated to data driven decision making. Governments don’t have shareholders,
resident opinion serves as the bottom line. Resident support increases trust, accountability, and
opportunities for civic engagement. Hearing resident input increases the quality of decisions and
is considered a best practice in local government. Eden Prairie was one of the first cities in
Minnesota to begin surveying residents.
Kobayashi noted the survey was mailed to 2,500 randomly selected households in December and
January. 500 households, or 20 percent, responded. The survey also has an open participation
component where any resident can respond. 842 residents responded in open participation for a
total of 1,325 responses. The results are statistically weighted for non-response bias and have an
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April 15, 2025
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approximately 3 percent margin of error. Narayanan asked how the 2,500 selected households
are split between apartments, condos, and single family homes. Kobayashi noted the breakdown
of housing is included in the final report. Multifamily housing is oversampled to account for the
higher nonresponse rate.
Kobayashi explained Polco can benchmark responses against 500 communities across the nation,
representing more than 50 million residents. The City’s responses are compared to the nation,
the region, and the state. The first finding of the City’s Quality of Life survey is Eden Prairie
continues to be a highly desirable place to live. 9 in 10 respondents rate the overall community
quality as good or excellent. Safety in neighborhoods, at parks and open spaces, and paths or
walking trails is above 90% good or excellent. Safety at the Eden Prairie Center was rated 89%
good or excellent, an increase of four percent from the prior survey iteration. When asked what
residents like most about living here, the number one response was parks, trails, and recreation
centers. The number two response was convenience of location, followed by the #3 response
open spaces and nature/wildlife. Narayanan noted his surprise that the school district wasn’t a
top answer. Kobayashi noted the school district could still be highly valued, but may not have
been a responder’s number one answer.
Kobayashi noted the second finding of the survey is residents praise the quality and value of City
services. About 90 percent of residents rate the overall quality of Eden Prairie services as good or
excellent. Residents rate fire services, EMS services, and police services well above 90 percent
good or excellent. Police services were rated higher than national, state, and regional
benchmarks, which is notable in today’s climate. Case asked for the criteria of rating above a
benchmark. Kobayashi confirmed a City must be rated more than ten percent higher compared to
the benchmark to be considered above. Kobayashi stated nonsafety services including park
maintenance, water and sewer, and trail maintenance were all rated above 90 percent good or
excellent. City planning services and assessing services were the only items to decrease in rating
from the prior survey iteration. This is likely due to the scarcity problem that attractive
communities suffer as a higher population brings affordability and traffic issues. Getschow noted
the City planning decreased to 70 percent good or excellent, but is still number one in the state
and top five in the country. Kobayashi confirmed no planning department has ever scored above
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80 percent good or excellent.
Kobayashi stated the third finding of the survey is residents report positive interactions with City
employees. 89 percent of respondents rate overall customer service as good or excellent, higher
than national and regional benchmarks. The fourth finding of the survey is residents rank items
related to Eden Prairie’s natural environment as top features of the City. One third of residents
noted parks, trails, and recreation centers as the thing they like most about living in Eden Prairie.
Sustainability initiatives have increased. There has been a significant increase in residents
participating in curbside composting. The fifth finding of the survey is residents continue to list
the availability of shopping and dining as a top area of improvement for the City, followed by
traffic and then cost of living. Kobayashi explained residents are familiar with and participating in
City events. Use of parks and recreation facilities is also reported as high, with upward trends in
use of the Staring Lake Amphitheatre and the Senior Center.
Kobayashi next covered high and low scoring services. 80 services were rated high (75 percent or
higher good or excellent), 20 services were rated mid (50 to 75 percent good or excellent), and
two services were rated low (under 50 percent good or excellent). Overall quality of the City,
governance, feelings of safety, and the natural environment were all rated over 90 percent good
or excellent. Sense of community, assessing, traffic, and affordable quality housing were the
lowest scoring, with two thirds or fewer residents rating as good or excellent. Case noted a
service could be rated low in the City but still be high in the region.
Kobayashi next described comparisons to benchmarks. The benchmark represents high
performing communities, as communities who survey residents tend to be higher performing.
Some communities will never choose to invest time and money in surveying residents. All survey
items were rated similarly or higher to national, regional, and state benchmarks. No survey items
were rated lower compared to benchmarks. Kobayashi listed areas where Eden Prairie scored
much greater than the benchmark (20 points higher) including senior programs and services, ease
of public parking, and preservation of natural areas. Nine services scored in the top ten
nationwide including City planning services at number two, police services at number three, and
preservation of natural areas at number four.
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Kobayashi next discussed trends over time. Compared to the previous survey iteration 22 items
received higher ratings, 140 items received similar ratings, and 23 items received lower ratings.
Ease of travel, police services, and street repair are all trending upward. Affordable quality health
care, assessing, and neighborhood traffic issues are trending downward, often associated with
communities experiencing growing pains.
Kobayashi noted eight in ten residents receive information from friends or neighbors, the City
website, and the Life in the Prairie newsletter. Eight in ten residents rate the newsletter as good
or excellent. The survey asks if airport noise is a major problem. Ten percent of residents note
airport noise is a major or extreme problem, relatively steady over the past ten years. Case asked
if every resident answers every question. Kobayashi answered its not required to answer every
question, but most residents do. Getschow noted in the north quadrants only four percent of
residents rate airport noise as a major problem. Case stated most calls from concerned residents
are in the southwest quadrant. Kobayashi stated the survey also asks if residents support the
municipally operated liquor stores. Eight in ten residents support.
Kobayashi explained residents are more likely to rate the City more favorably if they lived in the
City longer, are older, do not have children in the households, are homeowners, have higher
income, and identify as non-hispanic white. Narayanan asked Kobayashi to elaborate on the non-
hispanic white designation. Kobayashi noted Polco follows the US Census, and Hispanic is not
distinguished as a race.
Kobayashi summarized the conclusions and noted Eden Prairie is considered an extremely
desirable place to live. Narayanan commented on the excellent results and thanked Getschow for
his leadership. Kobayashi added the report results are outstanding. Toomey noted people in
Minnesota tend to be kinder and asked if that influences survey results. Kobayashi stated
Minnesota does score highly, but places such as Denver also score well. Large cities tend to score
poorly, as well as cities with low income and diverse residents, who tend to feel disenfranchised
from local governments. Case noted the City is now 28 percent diverse. Kobayashi stated Polco
moved from a phone survey to an online/paper survey. Residents tend to be more direct in an
online/mailed survey compared to a phone call due to social desirability bias. People tend to be
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kinder on the phone.
Case asked if the survey results were disaggregated responses between the sampled households
and open participants. Kobayashi answered in general the open participant respondents tend to
be more negative. Case asked how the data between sampled households and open participants
was merged, and asked questions on survey methodology. Kobayashi confirmed that information
could be compiled. Narayanan asked for the breakdown between single family homes and
attached housing. Getschow stated the breakdown is approximately 75 percent single family
homes 25 percent attached housing. Narayanan asked how many single family homes that
includes. Case answered approximately 18 or 19 thousand.
Kobayashi noted staff leadership met to discuss the survey results earlier that day. Based on the
survey results, staff identified five focus areas: gearing up for the light rail opening, mall
redevelopment, affordable housing, traffic and transportation options, and community building.
Staff also brainstormed ways to improve on the five focus areas. Case noted staff’s focus areas
have a nice synchronicity with Council priorities. Narayanan asked if there was a reason
sustainability was not on the priority list. Kobayashi noted the staff discussion focused more on
areas of improvement, its possible sustainability is perceived as an area the City is excelling in.
The Council thanked Kobayashi for her time and presentation and Getschow for his leadership.
Kobayashi again iterated the excellent results of the survey.
Council Chambers
II. Open Podium
III. Adjournment