Georgetown City Council reviewed the 2023 resident survey results to evaluate perceptions and preferences of the city’s residents at Feb. 13 meeting.

In a nutshell

The city partnered with Texas State University’s Center for Research, Public Policy and Training for the 2023 survey, as they have done previously in 2016, 2018 and 2020, according to city documents.

The 2023 survey was mailed to 2,500 households in October, targeting 300 apartments as renters respond to surveys at lower rates, said Thomas Longoria Jr., a political science professor at Texas State University.

Of the 2,500 mailed surveys, 390 surveys were completed. An additional 823 residents responded to the survey after it was made available online in December.


Longoria said compared to U.S. Census Bureau data for Georgetown, older residents, homeowners and retired residents were overrepresented in the survey sample. He also said white households were also overrepresented, while Latino households were underrepresented. All other groups were “fairly accurately” represented, Longoria said.

The details

The survey was broken down into categories, including quality of life, public safety, employment, traffic flow, resident contact and value for taxes paid, according to city documents.

The results, based on the sample respondents were:
  • Quality of life: 94% rated as good or excellent.
  • Public safety: 90% rated police, fire and emergency medical services as good or excellent; 95% rated safety as good or excellent during the day; and 92% rated safety downtown as good or excellent.
  • Employment: 17% rated employment opportunities as excellent, an increase from 8% in 2020.
  • Traffic flow: 25% rated as good or excellent, matching 2020 survey results.
  • Resident contact: 85% rated contact with city employees as good or excellent.
  • Value for taxes paid: 94% rated the value of services for the taxes they paid as fair, good or excellent.
What else?


Longoria said open-ended comments for the survey were dominated by issues related to traffic and streets.

Other open-ended comments included improvements needed for quality of life and mobility issues as well as highlighted developments most needed in the city, according to city documents.

Quality of life improvements from survey respondents included:
  • Slow development
  • Address traffic flow
  • Lower taxes and utility costs
Mobility improvements from survey respondents included:
  • Transportation and parking
  • Address traffic flow
  • Slow growth
Developments most needed in the city, according to survey respondents, included:
  • Restaurants
  • Entertainment
  • Retail