PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION

Public Administration

Public Administration

Introduction

In a continuing effort to be responsive to residents' concerns and satisfaction, the Roanoke Housing and Redevelopment Authority requested the assistance of the Virginia Tech Center for Housing Research in assessing resident satisfaction. The approach developed with the Center was twofold: a series of focus groups with residents at two RRHA locations and a mailed survey of all residents. The focus groups were conducted to gain residents' comments about the performance of RRHA's housing staff in managing their apartments. The focus group results have been reported separately and helped to identify issues to cover in the mailed survey. During our review of various approaches to obtaining feedback from residents on their satisfaction with RRHA services, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development announced that it would require housing authorities to conduct an “assessment of resident satisfaction with their living conditions.” Consequently, the Center focused on the development of an affordable annual survey approach that would include all tenants.

The Center conducted a mailed survey using the “Dillman” technique of an initial mailing of the questionnaire with return postage paid and a cover letter explaining the survey; a follow-up postcard after one to two weeks; and, a second letter with a replacement questionnaire mailed after three weeks. Prior experience with mailed surveys using this technique has shown that the second and third mailings significantly increase response rates, making the survey more reliable. The response rate achieved in this survey was 46%, a very respectable level for a tenant survey. This response rate is unadjusted for undeliverable questionnaires, which would make the actual response rate for delivered questionnaires even higher(Kushner 2005).

The Questionnaire

The questionnaire was modeled on the Customer Satisfaction Survey developed by the consulting firm of KPMG Peat Marwick to meet the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development's requirement for “assessment of resident satisfaction with their living conditions.”

The RRHA Residents Council assisted in pre-testing the questionnaire and additional modifications were made to remove possible ambiguities in wording and to make completion of the survey easier. Residents were asked to rate a variety of facilities and services on a scale of Excellent, Good, Poor, or Bad. The items rated included maintenance of common area physical facilities (laundry, recreation, parking lots, etc.), maintenance of utility services (electric service, hot water service, air conditioning, etc.), maintenance of apartment and grounds, management performance and response, human services (child care, health care, employment services, etc.), community development (improvement efforts by RRHA, police, and churches), and leasing/management

General Conditions at Apartment Complex

Residents were asked to rate the general conditions at their current apartment complex compared to similar locations where they had lived before, with response categories of Better, About the Same, Worse, Much Worse and Not Applicable. Over one-third (35.6%) rated their current housing as better than previous locations where they lived and another 38.4% rated their current housing as about the same as previous locations. About one-in-six (15.7%) rated their current housing as worse ...