Summary of survey results

1. Parks are used most during the summers, followed by spring and fall with activity levels dropping off during winter. As trivial as this may seem, this indicates that there is need to provide opportunities during the winter season to keep activity levels up.
2. Community Parks are most frequently used parks followed by neighborhood parks. This indicates the importance of providing community parks and the need for the City to plan for them.
3. Hiking/jogging/walking is the most popular and frequent activity. Playground came in second followed closely by biking. Other notables are swimming and soccer. This provides information on the need to cater to these activities and improve on them.
4. With many choices available to residents of Oak Harbor, respondents chose City Parks over Navy, School and County facilities to indulge in their favorite activities primarily because of convenience and availability. This speaks to the location and quantity of existing parks and the need to continue this level of service.
5. Locations of community and neighborhood parks are convenient but Trails were not. This information combined with the indication of the most popular activities indicates the need to provide more trails and more convenient locations.
6. Respondents rated the general conditions of parks as “good”. The results indicate that lighting can use some improvement. The lighting can refer to both safety issues and the extended use of parks during the winter season when daylight is limited. Considering these changes will also require discussion on policies of park hours.
7. Respondents are satisfied with the size and quantity of community and neighborhood parks but are dissatisfied with the trails. Again this points to the need for more trails within the City. Considering this subject may crossover into other areas such as transportation, public health etc.
8. Respondent ranked Natural Forest Areas as No.1 in desired facilities followed closely by multi-use trails. “Other” came in third. A close look at the information under “Other” revealed more trails and tennis. Playground, swimming pool and soccer fields are other notables. Another interesting finding in the “Other” categories was the use of the adjective “Indoor”. This information combined with the activity levels during the seasons demonstrates the need for such facilities. Splash pool/water parks came in fourth on the desired facilities.
9. Approximately 46% of the respondents were OK with sales tax and user fees to support parks. More than 50% of the respondents did not support property tax to further parks.
10. Who were the respondents? More than 60% of the respondents were female. More than 60% were the head of households. The households that responded had more people in the age group of 35 to 65+.