Jackson scores high in survey of residents; better streets, Aldi are high priorities

A recent survey showed more than 90 percent of Jackson residents rated the city a "good" or "excellent" place to raise children, according to results presented Monday night to the Board of Aldermen.

The survey, conducted by ETC Institute, also found three-quarters of residents feel the city is "moving in the right direction," Jason Morado, a project manager with ETC, said.

Morado said his company sampled more than 700 residents via mail, telephone and internet.

Using a five-point rating system, more than 60 percent of respondents ranked Jackson as a good or better place to work and retire, while opinion largely was split over the city's appeal to visitors, according to the findings.

Safety, quality of life, city "image" and aesthetic appeal all were ranked positively by more than 80 percent of respondents.

Regarding city services, residents expressed the most satisfaction with the city's fire service, police department and city parks. The lowest marks went to maintenance of city streets, where more than a quarter of respondents said they were dissatisfied.

The percentage of satisfied citizens was "significantly higher" in Jackson than the national average overall and the national average for cities with fewer than 30,000 residents in every category except the city's value as a place to visit, according to Morado's presentation.

The survey also asked residents to rank priorities by importance. About half of respondents ranked maintenance of city streets as a top priority, while just under half chose management of traffic flow.

The prospect of a new swimming pool, more police patrols and improving utilities each earned about a third of residents' votes.

About two-thirds of respondents also said they would support a tax increase to fund the items they ranked as top priorities.

Respondents expressed concern for public restrooms in parks, ranking the issue first in importance and last in satisfaction among parks system priorities.

Asked which stores they'd like to see recruited to Jackson, 36 percent of respondents said Aldi, the budget-conscious grocery chain with a location in Cape Girardeau.

Morado called the result surprising.

"For a write-in answer, that's very high, for any question," he said.

The next-highest response was Target, with 8 percent of answers.

Retail recruiter Jason Claunch, who also presented before the board Monday, said the survey largely resembled what his firm found in its recent market analysis.

"I'd be remiss if I didn't say Aldi was on our short list," Claunch told the board.

He said his company, Catalyst Commercial, has identified more than 40 "active qualified prospects," and his company met with eight of those prospects during a recent industry conference.

"All of those were very encouraging," he said, but added there were two things companies tended to express concern over with regard to the Jackson market.

The first, he said, is the population size. Cape Girardeau County sometimes falls short of companies guidelines regarding market size.

The other concern, he said, tended to be worries about duplication of services in specific categories.

Claunch said the ETC survey results represent another helpful tool in ongoing recruitment efforts, and Mayor Dwain Hahs called them a good starting place for the city moving forward.

tgraef@semissourian.com

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