Vision Survey Everett Parks, Recreation, and Open Space Plan DRAFT June 21, 2021 Introduction ...................................................................................................................................... 2 Key Themes ...................................................................................................................................... 3 Results .............................................................................................................................................. 4 Question 1. What Everett District do you live or work in? ..................................................................... 4 Question 2. What Everett neighborhood do you live or work in? ......................................................... 6 Question 3. What Everett parks and trails do you love and visit the most? .......................................... 6 Question 4. For the three parks you listed above, how far away are your favorite Everett parks and trails from your home? ........................................................................................................................... 7 Question 5. What activities do you enjoy in parks? Select all that apply. .............................................. 8 Question 6. Do you leave Everett to participate in recreation activities? If so, what do you do and where do you go? ................................................................................................................................. 10 Question 7. Please prioritize how important the following staff duties are to you and your park experience. ............................................................................................................................................ 11 Question 8. How do you typically get to a park or trail? ...................................................................... 12 Question 9. Are there any obstacles that make it hard for you to visit your local park (busy intersections, freeways, no sidewalks, lack of bike lanes, others?) ..................................................... 13 Question 10. Does anyone in your household play golf? ..................................................................... 15 Question 11. How often have you or someone in your household played golf in the last year? ....... 16 Question 12. Do you play at Everett Golf Courses? If so which ones? ................................................. 16 Question 13. What do you like best about Everett Parks? ................................................................... 17 Question 14. What do you dislike about Everett Parks? How can we improve? ................................. 18 Question 15. Are there any programs, facilities, or activities other communities have which you think would benefit Everett park users if they were available here? If so, which? ...................................... 20 Question 16. If you had $100 to spend on recreation facilities, what activities would you spend it on? ............................................................................................................................................................... 22 Demographics ....................................................................................................................................... 24 1 Attachment: Open Ended Responses ............................................................................................... 28 Q2. Open Ended Responses – Neighborhoods – Other ........................................................................ 28 Q3. Open Ended Responses – What Everett parks and trails do you love and visit the most? ........... 29 Q5. Open Ended Responses – What activities do you enjoy in parks? Select all that apply. ............... 49 Q6. Open Ended Responses – Do you leave Everett to participate in recreation activities? If so, what do you do and where do you go? ......................................................................................................... 51 Q7. Open Ended Responses – Please prioritize how important the following staff duties are to you and your park experience. .................................................................................................................... 71 Q8. Open Ended Responses – How do you typically get to a park or trail? (Select All that Apply) ..... 75 Q9. Open Ended Responses – Are there any obstacles that make it hard for you to visit your local park (busy intersections, freeways, no sidewalks, lack of bike lanes, others?) ................................... 75 Q13. Open Ended Responses – What do you like best about Everett Parks? ...................................... 95 Q 14. Open Ended Responses – What do you dislike about Everett Parks? How can we improve? . 117 Q15. Open Ended – Are there any programs, facilities, or activities other communities have which you think would benefit Everett park users if they were available here? If so, which? .................... 143 Q16. If you had $100 to spend on recreation facilities, what activities would you spend it on? If you answered other above, please describe. ............................................................................................ 163 Introduction The City of Everett is updating its 2016 Parks, Recreation, and Open Space Plan, due by March 1, 2022. The PROS plan will allow Everett to be eligible for state grants through the Washington State Recreation and Conservation (RCO) Office. It will also support other City plans and budgets by helping prioritize projects and programs consistent with the community’s vision, service standards and funding. As one element of Everett’s Outreach and Engagement Plan, Everett issued an on-line survey in Survey Monkey, advertising it through social media, the project website, and email lists of interested persons. Between April 7 and June 10, about 596 persons participated. The survey was issued in English and Spanish. Three persons completed the Spanish survey though a higher percentage identified themselves as Hispanic or Latino. This summary presents the results of the survey by summarizing key themes and then identifying results of individual questions. Open ended responses are provided in the appendix. DRAFT June 21, 2021 City of Everett | Parks, Recreation, and Open Space Plan 2 Key Themes Based on the survey, most respondents live in Districts 1, 2, 3, and 5 and few respondents from District 4 were captured in the results. The demographics of the respondents were similar to those of the city as a whole based on the Census though the households with young children and larger households tended to respond more compared to their share in the Census. The respondent’s racial identities were similar to the Census as a whole though a little less diverse particularly those identifying as Hispanic or Asian. Those responding tend to participate in passive activities such as trail walking/jogging, appreciating views and nature, using family facilities such as picnic areas and playgrounds, and participating in community events. These results held true for individual districts with some nuances: ▪ Trails, walking, jogging, running in park (without dog) is a top activity in all districts. ▪ Wildlife/Nature Viewing is a top activity in all districts, particularly District 2, but is less popular in District 4. ▪ Picnics and shoreline viewing are top activities in all districts except District 4. ▪ Playground equipment is more popular in District 4 than other districts where it is a secondary activity. Most respondents, over 70% do not play golf, but those that do make up a larger share of the respondents compared to the share of those playing golf nationally. Favorite parks included Forest, Legion, and Howarth. Outside of Everett most like to hike trails inside and outside of Snohomish County. Most drive to Everett parks, but a good share also walk. Obstacles to visit local parks include barriers associated with transportation: traffic, lack of sidewalks, need to bike infrastructure, or a lack of parks nearby. Aspects the community liked about Everett Parks included: an appreciation for nature, outdoor space, views, playgrounds, and trails. Aspects the community disliked about Everett Parks included: a concern about the number of homeless in the park, and trash and litter. Others identified desires for reopening closed facilities or for adding other facilities, e.g. more water access and trails or other recreation facilities like pickleball courts, splash pads, or other. Areas of priority for park investments included the same kinds of activities that respondents favor today – trails, habitat, water access, playgrounds/picnic areas. By District, results are similar except District 4 and District 5 are more interested in family activities compare to water access. There is more interest in active recreation like athletic fields and courts in Districts 1 and 3. DRAFT June 21, 2021 City of Everett | Parks, Recreation, and Open Space Plan 3 Results Question 1. What Everett District do you live or work in? The survey asked each participant to identify their home district; see Exhibit 2 on the following page. For those who identified their home neighborhood in Question 2 but not District, it was filled in by BERK. Exhibit 1 results show: ▪ Highest number of responses in Districts 1, 2, and 3. ▪ Least responses in District 4. Separately the City has conducted stakeholder interviews and reached out to the Boys and Girls club in District 4. See results of Pop-Up