The Town Council heard the results of a survey on Monday January 11 that measured public satisfaction with quality of life and town services in Chapel Hill.

The results showed that a majority of citizens are happy with life in Chapel Hill.

The survey was conducted and presented by a private company, the ETC Institute.

“We found that residents have a very positive perception of Chapel Hill, 89 percent of residents are satisfied with the overall quality of life in Chapel Hill compared with only 3 percent who are dissatisfied,” said Morado of the ETC Institute.

The survey was conducted in October and November of 2015 and over 400 people responded. This survey has been conducted every other year since 2009.

Chapel Hill ranks above regional and national averages for satisfaction when it comes to almost all categories except for traffic.

“The top overall priority is the flow of traffic and congestion management. Residents rank that as most important to emphasize over the next two years,” said Morado.

Traffic has been the biggest concern for residents since the survey was first done in 2009.

The next two biggest concerns were how the town is preparing for the future and the amount of affordable housing available.

As for new construction projects, creating more bike lanes and off – road paths was the top priority. Council Member Maria Palmer noted that residents want paths they feel safe on.

“When you look at the results you see that half of people asked say they do not feel safe biking in town,” said Palmer.

The purpose of the survey was to show the Mayor and Town Council where the public thinks the town should improve but other than a few specific areas, people seemed to be relatively satisfied with life in Chapel Hill.

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