Community Indicators Project

Mat-Su Community Indicators

Chamard, Sharon and MacAlpine, Heather. (Nov 2011). The Matanuska-Susitna Borough Community Survey 2011 and Trends 2007–2011: A Sourcebook of Community Attitudes. Anchorage, AK: Justice Center, University of Alaska Anchorage.

Summary: The Matanuska-Susitna Borough Community Survey (Mat-Su Survey), conducted annually since 2006, is a cooperative research effort between the Justice Center at University of Alaska Anchorage (UAA) and the Matanuska-Susitna Borough. The survey asks Mat-Su Borough residents to evaluate the quality of Borough services, provide opinions about Borough decision-making, and sum up their perceptions about a range of issues relevant to the present and future of the Mat-Su community. The 2011 survey was distributed to 2,577 adult heads-of-household in the Mat-Su Borough in the late summer and fall of 2011; a total of 1,159 surveys were returned, for a response rate of 45.0%.

This sourcebook presents both the results from the 2011 Mat-Su Survey and trends from 2006–2011 in five major areas: (1) evaluation of current borough services; (2) use of borough facilities; (3) life in Mat-Su neighborhoods; (4) local government access, policies, and practices; and (5) respondent background information. Additionally, findings from a derived importance-performance analysis of the survey data are presented, as is a compilation of respondent comments.