The results are in.
After collecting and compiling data since the end of January, Gainesville's Strategic Planning Division released the findings of a citywide survey intended to get feedback from the community.
Of those who completed the survey, about 78 percent reported feeling Gainesville is either an "excellent" or "good" place to live.
They also rated the overall impression of city employees very high, said Lila Stewart, city strategic planner.
"Many of them felt that city employees were very responsive," Stewart said.
The survey results were presented to the Gainesville City Commission on April 28.
Possible follow-up actions include city-staff workshops and group meetings that focus on solving some of the pinpointed problems, such as public parking and slow job growth.
Out of about 1,200 households that were mailed the survey and multiple reminders, 264 surveys were returned.
The response rate was 22 percent, lower than the 25 to 40 percent response typically received by other cities conducting similar surveys, Stewart said.
City officials are brainstorming ways to reach UF and SFCC students and to compare Gainesville to other university towns, she added.
The city used The National Citizen Survey, which was sponsored by the International City/County Management Association in cooperation with the National Research Center.
It was the first time Gainesville used this survey, which cost $8,900 to implement.
Stewart said it can be used as a helpful benchmarking tool, and they plan to use it again in fall 2009.
